


Epilogue (Aka Henry In Hell)

by Lucario



Category: Dayshift At Freddy's, Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Henry is in Ultimate Custom Night, I'm probably not going all off the rails, It has it's own ore, M/M, Other, but it's not that important to know about, but this is a warning just in case, there will be torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:35:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 26,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27687695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucario/pseuds/Lucario
Summary: This won't make any sense if you didn't read "A Guard's Life, so I won't be summarizing much.This was basically born out of an idea that I would make a request series on tumblr, where people could tell me which animatronic Henry should face- but then I answered general "Epilogue" questions for everyone and thus this book is born.The chapters will be SHORT and will mostly be based of requests! Tell me what you wanna see (which animatronics Henry should face/questions about the other character's current situation with a prompt) and I'll just yeet something out.Thank you, everyone who followed that giant series by the way- I hope this is a nice little way to say goodbye to it, without it feeling like too much of a cut!And if you haven't read it but ask yourself if you should check this out anyways:My Henry is VERY much my own AU take on him, but if you don't mind that and just want to see any Henry be harassed by animatronics, I don't think you'd be too disappointed of confused. But hey, that's just my take!
Relationships: Henry Miller/Probably Eternal Suffering, Jeremy Fitzgerald/Marionette | The Puppet, Orange Guy (Dayshift at Freddy's)/Purple Guy (Five Nights at Freddy's), Phone Guy/Mike Schmidt (Five Nights at Freddy's)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 9





	1. Welcome to hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> paperpage01 asked:
> 
> AHHHHHHH I HAVE IDEA!!
> 
> How about Henry interacting with Helpy and the “annoying” Ultimate Custom Night characters! Maybe throw in Funtime Freddy!! Helpy could be his son or maybe Bon Bon reincarnated! Just sheer silliness and stupidity :p

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, no Funtime Freddy here, I forgot he wasan option- though I don’t mind adding characters that aren’t an option, I would just had to write around that a little more, so I didn’t want to go all in. Events and surroundings all randomly generated like this in-game! Just with slight adjustments for a bit of writing flow).

Henry groaned, his bones sending agony through his nerves.  
It felt like his insides had splintered and were now stuck in his flesh.  
His throat was burning, but he managed to open his eyes.  
He was- somewhere.  
At least it was a place. That was actually news, good news, last time he hadn’t been that lucky after all. Having a couch below him and a room surrounding him was actually a deep relief- it was a room he didn’t have to create himself.  
Sitting up, he looked around.  
It seemed to be some sort of employee lounge, a coffee machine, a tv and a couch, with lockers against the walls.  
A few posters painted the walls.  
-CELEBRATE!-  
They said, over and over again.  
Henry showed his teeth, a grin with no hint of amusement.  
“… that is what you would like to do, huh?”  
Standing up he stumbled a little, but the pain only served to keep him awake and grow his confidence.  
It HURT.  
And it was GOOD.  
_It hurt, his body hurt, HIS BODY was REAL and in PAIN.  
Wh_en he left to the outside, he was surprised to see that he was inside of one of the oldest locations- at least in form. He was standing beside where the stage was supposed to be, coming from where the saferoom used to be, but to his surprise instead of a stage it was a giant price corner, filled with all sort of plushies and other goodies. Sweets and candies, candles, little gadgets…  
_… and a silver coin among them._  
It shined and felt oddly… powerful.  
Ten Faztokens.  
The other things didn’t even have a price tag, so he decided that he would check back on that later.  
All items were hidden behind a thin glass wall and he wasn’t sure if he could break through it. _Maybe he should try later.  
Mo_ving further down, he realized a few more things were different-  
There were TWO pirate coves in the main area and-  
_‘Pssssst… hey… I have something to tell you…’  
Ab_ruptly Henry turned around.  
Where had that voice come from?!  
_‘Hey… hey, down here…’_  
It seemed to come from one of the hallways, leading down to the office. As quick as he possible could, he followed the source of the noise, the mysterious whispers slowly growing louder.  
_‘It is really… really… important…!’  
Fi_nally, he was near the supply closet, looking around.  
“Hello? Where are you? _Who are you? What is this place?”_ The questions broke out of him more erratically than he wanted them too, the desperation and quiet panic bubbling under the thin veil of cold control- it was almost cracking out of him.  
‘Pssssst…’  
He spotted a little crate with eyes, and leaned down to investigate-  
  
Suddenly a loud noise!  
The thing was all up in his face, making a low noise, pure bass, causing his head to HURT, but not enough that he would have to hold his ears-  
Just enough that it shook his skin uncomfortably, from the inside out.  
  
Stumbling backwards, he shook his head, the crate had disappeared, leaving him with a headache and burning aggression, so potent that his throat felt sore, as though he had screamed from the top of his lungs… despite not a single noise having come out of him.  
Moving inside of the office, he was somewhat stunned.  
_It looked like a bedroom_. With closet and everything. The wallpaper and whole atmosphere felt… old.  
A child’s bedroom… except there was an office desk, with a fan, a microphone and a weird little action figure of Bonnie on top of it.  
Some air ducts were hanging into the room and there were- _multiple vents, two doors_ -  
A flashlight.  
Quickly he grabbed it.  
Great- now all he needed was a taser and maybe he would feel like-  
_“… Henry Miller…”_  
A raspy voice sounded to the side of him, causing him to make a few steps back.  
In front of him, a creature was forming, a Freddy, burned and see through-  
It grinned.  
_“… long time… no see…”_  
“I have never met you.”  
_“… your memory is failing you, Mr. Miller…”  
At_ this point it seemed to become more and more corporeal, reaching out to the table, its paws scraping over and only slightly moving through the material.  
Turning to the Pink Guy, he opened his maw a little, nothing visible inside.  
It was getting ready…  
_“… that’s on you however-“  
A _squeaky voice sounded. “Maybe you should shine your light at him, Mr. Miller!”  
Instantly, the flash of his light ripped through the ghostly Freddy, who was quite disgruntled to say the least.  
_“… Helpy… you are supposed to help US.”  
Wi_th that he vanished, giving Henry the chance to turn to around and see who’s mysterious helper was. His eyes fell on a little walking bear standing on the blue shelf, trying to hide between the purple fan.  
“Whoops…”  
“… who are you? Can you EXPLAIN this place to me?!”  
“I’m Helpy! Don’t you remember me, Henry?”  
Fully irritated the Pink Guy stepped back.  
“No. No, I did not make you. I THOUGHT about making you, but I never did!”  
“Oh my, Henry, you must have fallen on your head!” Helpy laughed. “But- I can’t help you actually. Everyone else will be mad! So I won’t tell you how the other people here work!”  
“Can you at least tell me who exactly these ‘others’ are?!”  
“Uhm… no. I don’t think so.” Slowly he was reaching behind him for something-  
But Henry couldn’t worry about it, as a phone suddenly started ringing.  
Shoving off the bear off the shelf (resulting in a little squeak), he tried to find the source of the noise, his head throbbing. He thought he shortly saw a “mute call” button pop up, but as soon as he saw it, it was already gone.  
Instead a receiver just- fell from the ceiling, randomly.  
_How?  
Who KNEW-  
“Uh-_ hello? Hello, hello?”  
“… Phone Guy?”  
“ _Scott_. Uh- anyways- uh, anyways, I wanted to record a message for you, to help you get settled in on your first-“  
“This is not a recording. You just interrupted me. _And why would there be a phone RINGING if you were to play a recording!?”  
Fo_r a moment it was quiet, then Scott started laughing.  
“You never changed, did you?”  
Irritated Henry skipped past that question, having more urgent matters to talk about.  
“Scott. Good old Scott. _Listen, I think I am in some level of hell.”_  
Dumbfounded there was silence on the other end, while the ghostly Freddy tried to reform, being instantly shooed away by the light.  
Until finally-  
“… yes of course. _Of COURSE you’re in hell, Henry_. Uh. What did you expect?”  
“I-“  
“No, no, no, let’s uh- _let’s talk about this_. Where did you THINK you are? Because, uhm- not sure how to say this, but- uh- I DIED and I’m in HEAVEN right now and you DIED, sooo… uh- yeah.”  
“ _I am glad we talked about this_. I cannot recall how I GOT here, however. And everyone seems to know me.” Displeased he shined the light at the grinning grimace of the phantom, before he could even fully form.  
“Yeah… uh… can’t help you. Actually, I have to go. You don’t have a noise activated animatronic around, do you?”  
“A- what?”  
“Hm. Too bad. Talk to you later!”  
“ _Wait_ -“  
But before he could say anything else, the connection was cut, and his camera system was blinking up red.  
‘Catch a fish!’ the title said, his head becoming dizzy as he watched the little red thing move from one side to the other.  
Wait, that wasn’t just- the noise and the flashing, the air was getting harder and harder to breathe!  
_… smells like brimstone.  
He_ managed to catch the fish, albeit just barely, then opened the camera feed, where a warning sign was blinking. The camera itself was completely covered by another phantomlike animatronic, the Mangle this time.  
Shortly he blinked at it, shaking his head, then clicking the button that said ‘RESET VENTILATION’.  
A gust of fresh air instantly blew through the location, allowing him to finally breathe again properly. The fan itself seemed useless- he deactivated it.  
Having climbed back up, Helpy was back on the shelf, looking at him happily. “Are you having fun?”  
For a moment Henry looked at him, shining away the Freddy once more.  
“… no.”  
Out of the corner of his eyes he spotted Balloon Boy, staring at him with his terrible grin.  
Instantly he hit the button to shut the door, a dull thud coming from it right away. At least that one gave him a hint of satisfaction, pleased with the mental image that the obnoxious plastic abomination ran face-first into the metal wall.  
“But you look like you have fun!”  
Helpy reached behind him, before Henry shoved him over again, still not interested in what he was hiding.  
“You are TERRIBLE at reading emotions then. _A useless AI_.”  
Pouting Helpy sat beside the shelf, not answering this time around.  
Looking around, Henry got comfortable in his chair, slowly growing… a little bit hot.  
_Huh_.  
_Seemed like the fan wasn’t entirely useless after all._  
Maybe it kept the heat from the hell around them away.  
… what an image… a Freddy’s in the middle of a fire-y pit.  
_He hoped it wasn’t the case.  
That would make getting out a lot more complicated.  
“Is _this all I have to deal with?” Henry asked Phantom Freddy, who chose not to answer, but only smile grimly. “… I can live with that.”  
Leaning back, he quickly flipped up the screen once more resetting the ventilation and shutting the vent to the side one more time for good measure. Again, a bonk. Hopefully Balloon Boy.  
He relaxed.  
A routine would form easily.  
Shine your light, reset the vent, keep the generator going, close the side vent for a while. At least for now the place seemed empty-  
Suddenly something DROPPED from the ceiling.  
Lights flashed a heap of shadow-y humanoid figures entered with what sounded like cameras, flashing and shining, making Henry’s head spin.  
On the top of his table stood Funtime Chica posing elegantly.  
“Don’t get distracted~!” She spun around showing herself off, then blew a kiss down at him.  
Then she turned to Helpy.  
“Helpy!!! Why didn’t you tell me our guest was already here!!!” She whined, upset. Her paparazzi had vanished again, she however stuck around. “My first impression was TERRIBLE! Because of YOU!”  
“I’m sorry Miss Funtime Chica!” Helpy didn’t seem bothered by the accusation. “He was just suddenly here!”  
“Aw- well- at least he’s a total cutie!”  
“Why thank you.” Henry rose an eyebrow, but tried to continue focusing on the plastic children trying to enter the office, as well as the Phantom trying to materialize behind her. “I appreciate the compliments, especially from someone who seems to have an eye for it.”  
“Oooooh, look at him~ so adorable~ I wanna pinch his cheeks!” Sitting down on the desk, the bird smiled widely, watching him. “How’s the night going~?”  
“Rather fast. I think I have a grip on it though.”  
“Hm? Are you sure~?”  
Before Henry could answer his tablet acted up. For a few seconds he saw the little 8-bit fishing game- but before he could catch it, the screen changed showing an add.  
**“COME TO EL CHIP’S FIESTA BUFFET, WE HAVE-“  
In**stantly clicking on skip, Henry managed to get another glimpse at the game-  
And then it was gone, a red GAME OVER stuck on his screen.  
His breath was getting shorter as the smell of brimstone slowly started filling the room again, the red alarms blinking, but the screen constantly flashing error when he tried to access it.  
More and more his head hurt, the room seemed to become darker and darker- _was this smoke_?! Was smoke entering the room? Would he be poisoned by the gasses!?  
Desperately he rattled the screen, while Chica only giggled and left, Helpy watching intensely from the shelf.  
“You know, if you just wait a few minutes, it’s gonna-“  
Frustrated Henry shoved him down once more, his mouth filling with a disgusting taste as the room began spinning-  
It all come together, once Freddy formed, the Balloon Boy loomed in the vent, a second after, the telephone was ringing-  
Suddenly the screen flashed back up and he instantly grabbed it, trying to get his bearing as he hit the button to reset, being stuck for a second too long on the grinning grimaces of both a phantom Balloon Boy and Mangle- the latter of which suddenly crawled out of the screen and while he managed to hit the button, his office had descended into chaos.  
Helpy was holding a horn, the phantom Freddy had almost formed, the phantom Mangle was slowly extending its neck towards him, screaming and gargling in insane glee and to top if all off, the screen flashed red AGAIN, forcing him to focus on that instead of the other two things-  
Balloon Boy was snickering as he tried to make his way inside, Henry barely being able to shut the vent on him before discovering the stupid crate from the start looking at him from under the table.  
“Uh- hello? Hello, Hello?”  
“ _Scott. Bad timing._ ”  
“That is my job!” Cheerfully the Phone Guy said. “To be as much of a nuisance to you as possible. Uh- glad to hear the high praise. How are you? Bad? Good. Uh- anyways, I will now read to you the company greeting, but only the imperfect, first draft so you feel bad about what bullshit you wrote!”  
“I can crush this phone.”  
“No, uh- you actually can’t! The afterlife is neat, huh?”  
_“I can mute you.”_  
“If you are fast enough. Which you obviously weren’t. You really grew old, uh- up there…”  
“MY REFLEXES ARE GREAT AS EVER.”  
“If it were the case you wouldn’t, uh- y’know. Fighting with me over this.”  
“I am not fighting with you, I am merely correcting you. _As I always did while we were alive.”_ Stopping the petty crap, seeing as he wasn’t even sure if this WAS actually the real Scott, he turned his attention to more important things. “What is this place? Who made it?!”  
“Uh- Welcome to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza! A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or person-“  
Instantly Henry tuned out.  
_“Good riddance, Scotty.”_ He mumbled to himself, taking solace in the memory that no matter what, this obnoxious Phone-head had been dead for much longer than he himself.  
While the words kept going in the background, he kept working, pausing as a bright green mechanical parrot flew through his office. But- it didn’t really do anything, so he decided to ignore it for now.  
A good amount of time passed with his voice in the background, until it was abruptly cut off- seemingly by the ad for El Chip’s. Once that was skipped, the office was quiet, aside from the fan.  
Finally!  
The silence lingered.  
_For a second Henry felt a bit lonely._  
Not even the little bear was there anymore.  
There was enough to do though, as the air kept needing to be reseted, Freddy kept popping up, the parrot came through once more, the minigame, the annoying balloon children wanted in-  
At last…  
… it was five AM.  
One last time the call sounded.  
Henry allowed it to come through, despite eyeing the ‘mute call’ button.  
“Hello? Hello, hello!?” It sounded on the other side. “Hey! You’re doing GREAT. I, uh- didn’t expect you to last this long! I mean-“ He broke off. “ _Y’know. Usually I expected you to move on to other things by now… disappearing into the void like you should, seeing as there’s no out.”  
“I_ will not disappear.”  
“Huh. Guess I owe the person who made this place an apology. I was wrong-“  
_“Who?! Who was it?! **Who are you TALKING about?!”**_  
But before anything could be said, the bell chimed.  
  
Six AM  
  
His screen changed once more, a high-score board showing, then loud music started blasting from the speakers, hyper and fast paced, the numbers blinking and colorful, rapidly climbing higher and higher as fireworks were set up on the screen and around Henry, raining down confetti as they exploded-  
**GREAT JOB!  
FANTASTIC!  
The **fireworks stopped and the jingle ended with a congratulatory little up and down.  
Then the office was dark.  
Slowly he stood up, leaving to the outside, checking for danger-  
“Hey! You won. Here, take this for your trouble.” Suddenly ANOTHER Freddy was there, a golden star on his chest- he dropped a battery into Henry’s hands that he had grabbed, then he walked off.  
“Wait- _wait a moment_! I need an explanation! _I need-“_  
The bear was gone.  
After a while of searching around the place and not finding an exit, Henry finally sighed and made his way back into the saferoom- or employees only lounge, or- _whatever_.  
Inside it was just like before.  
Safe.  
Except this time the TV was on.  
And there was a Fredbear suit on the sofa.  
_How?  
Who knew.  
Why?  
Hopefully not to kill him.  
Slowly h_e moved next to it, inspecting it. At this moment it seemed completely lifeless, yet somehow he felt watched.  
“ _Am I… interrupting…?”_  
No reaction.  
Walking past the suit, he put away the battery.  
Still no reaction, but he could swear the creature was looking at him.  
Unsure he approached it once more, sitting down besides him.  
“… looking at… fuzzystatic. I see. I think I will… join.”  
Suddenly, a loud noise of came from the tv, then it flashed.  
  
_INTERMISSION.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A _little bit later, Henry was done watching a samurai Freddy fighting an ULTRA edgy Foxy, he put his face into his hands.  
_“… send me back out. Please. I actually prefer it.”_


	2. Getting used to it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:
> 
> both puppets, Scraptrap, Scrap baby, music man, normal chica, mr. hippo, and finally nightmare fredbear. we need a good mix, you know?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Thanks for the request, I will get jumpscared SO bad and I’m excited to find out by who.
> 
> Edit: No longer excited, hated it, I needed to pay attention to the audio because of Chica and Marion, hope the chapter will be more fun for it.   
> Full disclosure, in my first run I died ten seconds in due to Nightmarionne, so- I did a second one that escalated just as badly. I’m an idiot, RIP Henry.   
> Warning for a tiny bit of torture at the end, not TOO prolonged, but it’s gonna be there!)

“Alright.” Henry sat there with Helpy in front of a giant spreadsheet, showing little portrays of all the animatronics. “Am I actually supposed to believe that Foxy can throw in all of his parts one by one? And then repair himself to attack me?”   
“Yep!” The little bear happily confirmed.  
 _“… I do not have a choice aside from accepting it, do I?”_   
“Yep!”   
“And how do I tell that he is here?”   
“A little figure on your desk! If it’s Bonnie, Bonnie is out, if there is Foxy, Foxy is out!”   
“Why… is Bonnie in Foxy’s cove?”   
Helpy shrugged. “Funtime Foxy doesn’t share, so there’s only one cove.”   
MY GOD. THERE WAS ONLY ONE COVE-  
Irritated Henry frowned, but he chose to ignore it.  
“… is there a way for me to tell who is there in general? I feel like having to check every single place on the camera is somewhat difficult and rather unfair.”   
Before he could say anything, the sheet turned grey, only leaving a selected few of them bright and colorful.  
His eyes went from one portray of the Marionette to the other.  
 _“… why thank you.”_   
Helpy looked at the selection, frowning a little. “Oh… that’s… that’s not good. Uhm, Mr. Miller?”   
The man had stood up by now, making his way towards the door.  
“… yes?”   
“… you should keep the global music box on for tonight. B-but not too loud!”   
_“… thanks you for the advice.”_   
  
With that he exited the room, the weirdly cold main area greeting him instead.  
  
Making his way right towards the office, his mind was buzzing with a few questions to himself.  
These questions were only amplified when he entered the now more normal seeming office, seeing a rather familiar face.  
“You.”   
“Me!” Cheerfully Scrap Baby responded. “ _Good to see you again, bitchass_.”   
“ _Excuse me-“_   
“Apology accepted.” She put her skaters on the table, waiting for Henry to sit down on the other side- which he did, seeing as he hardly had another choice. “Look at you. MISERABLE. _I love it!”_  
 _“… and I enjoy seeing you all scrapped up, made out of trash and metal scraps_. However, I have the satisfaction of knowing that you are in this condition because of me. _You, however, do not_.”   
Leaning over, the girl let her claw snap.  
“… you are a brave boy, Miller… let’s see how brave you’ll be when I test how easily I can behead you with my claw!”   
Henry’s hand was hovering over the button for the electronic shock and she noted, leaning back again. He had the shock, she had her claw… it was only a matter of time to see who could react quicker.  
A raspy, broken voice sounded from the back.  
 ** _“Wow… look at you two… getting along like a house on fire… I almost don’t want to interrupt… a l m o s t.”  
In_**stantly Henry looked down, flipping up the monitor to activate the global music box and reset the ventilation, as well as spotting the animatronic in the duct system and quickly placing a lure.  
The nightmarish animatronic chuckled.  
 ** _“Oh, Henry… don’t you want to look at me…?”_**   
“Seeing as it will take me life… no.” Despite his words, he sneaked a short glance at the creature- it was hard to ignore, so giant and unnatural, his curiosity was begging him to take a look. _“… as much as I hate to be rude.”  
Hi_s head felt feverish, there was something wrong.   
Baby was from his old home. She referred to the things they had gone through together. Not that it was much, but it was there.  
And then there was the monstrous creature, one he knew could exist, but never came to fruition.   
This place of course wasn’t tied to time and space, but it seemed this place wasn’t even tied to a single-strained reality. It would also explain why everyone seemed to know him.   
That threw up a few more questions though, for example, if the souls roaming were actually-  
He could hear the global music box playing, as well as Chica’s rummaging in the back.  
When he lowered the camera again, he stared to the side, trying his hardest to not look at the creature, while keeping an eye on Baby and her position.   
**_“… you will look. Eventually. I know. You know. Why are you drawing out the inevitable, Henry? I thought you hated that.”  
“I_**t is not inevitable.” Henry said, his voice full of confidence, but his eyes remained on the corner to the side.   
If he just kept the routine up, then-  
… dear god. The power was draining a little bit too quickly for his liking. Was the music box this much of a strain?  
It wasn’t too bad yet, if he kept things going it might would be tight, but not impossible-  
Out of nowhere an obnoxious voice sounded.  
 _  
"Uh-oh! How unfortunate! Uh-oh! How unfortunate! I know how much you like to fight, so I'll add a new problem to your night!"  
  
Snap_ping around, Henry spotted a girl- **ANOTHER DAMN BALLOON CHILD** \- stand in a corner, snickering to herself, watching him with glee.  
“Wh-what!? Who are you?”  
But as he asked that, the entire screen started to rumble and quake, something was coming from the left, it was coming FAST, it must have been something INCREDIBLE RAGEFUL and in a blind panic he smashed all the doors to that side close.  
The lights flickered off for a second and the Balloon Girl disappeared- the creature however had been locked out.  
It felt like it was too close- his brain wasn’t supposed to react that panicked!  
 _Had that been Dave? Really? It sounded like-  
Hi_s mind was a mess.   
The Nightmarionette chuckled, now lounging at the right side of the office.  
For some reason Baby snickered too.  
 _“What is so funny?!”_ He hissed, quickly flipping through the cameras, checking the vents and airduct cameras, trying desperately to find who this creature had added-  
Then his eyes lowered down to the energy that was being wasted.  
 _Rapidly it decreased.  
No_, no, the global music box couldn’t be draining THIS much power, right?!  
Was it even possible to keep the global music box playing all night?  
 _Twenty-four percent at two AM.  
No way he could do it.  
Frus_trated he looked to the side, wondering who exactly would come for him once the lights were out.   
Would the puppet or Chica come into the office? Taking revenge for being deprived of their other form of entertainment?   
He hadn’t seen the Nightmare Fredbear for the entirety of the night, something that slightly disappointed him.  
The only nightmarish creature he was allowed to see was the one he wasn’t allowed to look at.   
Now it was actually inevitable to die- and the machines in front of him enjoyed it, obviously.  
The way they looked at each other made it clear they were deciding on who would get the honors.  
With a headache Henry glanced at his deactivated tablet.  
… if they were unlucky, then the newly arrived stranger would be the one getting to strike first.  
 ** _“Why are you so quiet, Henry? Bear got your tongue?”_**  
“… was there anything left to talk about?”   
Baby snickered. “Maybe you should cut that attitude _. Or I’ll cut your tongue out… both would fix it!”_   
“That is not a conversation worth having, at least in my eyes. I am open for a counterpoints, but us talking about it will not aid either of us. Correct?”   
Ten percent.  
It was still draining quickly, instantly down to double digits, and it just had turned to three AM.  
 _“Any last words?”_ Baby asked.  
Henry just tsked, closing all the doors and glancing at her. “Get it over already. Boasting is not a polite thing to do.”   
She clacked her claw. “ _You just want to get me shocked before going down.”_  
“If that is what you think.”   
A few heartbeats now-  
Then the lights went down.  
… what a familiar noise indeed…  
Slowly it went darker and darker, the afterglow of the lamps fading fast.  
Henry breathed slowly, listening in, trying to guess who was approaching to kill him.  
From the side, the Nightmarionnette moved closer, putting a heavy claw on his shoulder, leaning down.  
Its bright white eyes and shining teeth were the only thing still seeing- aside from the stripes, vaguely.  
Henry stared inside them, without showing fear.  
 ** _“Henry…”  
“Y_**es, Charlie?”   
**_“… you left the right door locked up until now.”  
Fo_**r a moment Henry was frozen, then he slapped his own face.   
_“I am such an idiot.”_   
**_“Now, now, do not damage the goods… that is my job!”_**   
Picking him up carefully, like a little doll, the Nightmarion let one of his claws move over Henry’s stomach- Henry just hanging in the grasp, stubbornly refusing to fight back.  
“… will I go to actual hell after this?”   
The machine laughed, it sounded a bit like a circular saw, a far distance away.  
 ** _  
“Henry! This IS your hell! And… the nightmare is just beginning.”  
_**  
With that he dug his claws inside of his body, right at the chest.  
It was a horrible crushing feeling, the pressure on his skin, of his lungs growing stronger and stronger until it broke open, blinding white pain, opening up-  
One claw peeled off the skin, the other aimed right for the heart, pulling it out until separating it with and abrupt RIP-  
 _… how was he still conscious, this was far too much pain, far too much damage, how was he- how was he still conscious...  
Fa_scinated the machine looked at the heart.  
 ** _“You have one! What a surprise. Now… to the real test.”_**   
It took it to his maw, shoving it against his teeth, opening it up, tearing it to pieces, as a long tongue slipped out, catching a few bloody drops, while another few dropped on the ground, joining the pool from where Henry was being held.  
 ** _“… I do like the taste…”_**   
With that it reached out again, reaching in-  
  
 _And that was thankfully the last thing he experienced before fading away._  
  
He woke back up on the couch, coughing abruptly, feeling close to dry heaving-   
Stumbling over, he got himself a glass of water.  
Then he sat down next to the sink, trying to breathe more regularly.   
_… it would get better.  
He would get better. _


	3. Dave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> deceitful-jester asked:
> 
> I don't want to bother you and you likely have better prompts to do, but it would be really fun to see Henry have to deal with both Springtrap and ScrapTrap specifically for potential angst purposes on both ends. Some side characters that would make good filler might be Nightmare and - Maybe Mangle?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “You likely have better prompts to do”- pal, fam, buddy, the blog/story has like… ten followers and maybe three askers, and I love every single one of them dearly.  
> I try to bring the prompts out on a “one per day” basis, to ensure they won’t get too long and to show I’m still doing it, so if I don’t put one out, you can feel sure there’s nothing left.
> 
> Also, good on you for asking for these two! I had a realization about how it’s kinda impossible to die to certain people, like Mr. Hippo- especially since I was just having a great time creating a little game-over interaction and then figured out “wait a minute, that won’t happen, he’s 100% fooled by the lure”  
> So instead I’ll adjust depending on what the ask offers. If it’s a matter of “I wonder if he can survive this”/”I wonder who he’ll die to”, I’ll write that out, but if it’s a “I wonder how he’ll react to that character”   
> Just taking up the Dave™, and only playing to see if I die to Scraptrap, seeing as he DID manage to catch me off guard before. (Also Deedee)  
> Yes. I should have put more thought into the mechanics before. And YES. I already thought up way too much lore for this one-off “time in hell” thing. But y’know how it is. You think or you die.  
> I don’t even think of lore, it just pops into my head, that’s why my stories are so disorganized  
> Anyways, ENJOY!  
> I don’t think the torture this time around is so bad, I basically cut away before anything really bad happens

It was quiet this time around.   
But Henry wouldn’t be tricked by it.  
You’d think that only two animatronics being active would make this night a cakewalk, but the fact that he was faced with two animatronics that… were _Dave_ …  
He wasn’t looking forward to it.  
Before he had left the office he had been offered to take some “benefits” along, but… he didn’t want to admit to being concerned. Not to mention that it wouldn’t help him.  
Maybe the Deedee repel- this one however seemed better preserved for later. After the panic she had put him into, it was probably more appropriate to use it when he truly was in over his head.  
… oh, he would eat those words later, wouldn’t he?  
 _… it hardly mattered.  
Wh_at even WAS she? How did she come here? Why could she simply activate machines like this?  
Perhaps that was what Satan looked like. _At this point he wouldn’t even be surprised.  
Wi_th a sigh he quickly raised the tablet, putting on the generator.  
It would keep him safe from the lights going out, that was well-worth dealing with the headache inducing noise.  
Out of morbid curiosity he switched from the main control on the tablet to the vents.   
‘Click on nodes to set vent snare’.  
… christ… _a snare…?  
A snare trap…?  
That_ was vicious. Probably very effective though… against anyone but _Dave_.   
  
_It was Dave in that suit.  
It always had been Dave in that suit.  
After all the fruitless attempts trying to get this stupid suit get possessed, Henry had to come to accept that- Dave’s spirit was already inside and it wasn’t willing to share with anyone. The Springbonnie suit COULD probably have walked by itself if Dave would have wanted it- if Dave would have TRIED for it.  
… there were a lot of things William could have made happened, if he had just TRIED.  
  
Trying t_o get the bitter taste out of his mouth, Henry grimaced, staring at the screen as Dave moved along the vents.   
To think that this was the man who looked at him with pity, as if he was something weak and-  
 _… to think that he had been the only one witnessing his pathetic death.  
It_ hurt in a very special way.   
Hell, he couldn’t even point out how-  
WHY it was this bad.   
Was it the humiliation?   
Or was it the simple fact that he had died this terrible manner and all he could think about when remembering Dave and his- old life.  
Old life.  
… was this even the Dave he knew?   
Was this William?   
_Or was it merely a manifestation of memories and thoughts, pulled right out of his head?_  
Staring at the screen he watched as Dave approached.  
Surprisingly, he took the long way around. How peculiar. For some reason he had assumed Dave would make a B-line for the vent entrance, but he was approaching from the entirely different side.   
Was he assuming he could catch him off-guard?  
Well- either way, he was almost here.  
Putting down the monitor, Henry peered into the vent in front of him, trying to catch a glance-  
  
 _The whole room started to shake, together with the awfully loud rattling and screeching from the side.  
  
Fo_r a few seconds blind panic took ahold in his brain, as it always did when heard this damn noise- then he stumbled over and smashed the right side buttons, causing the doors to that side to snap shut.  
An inhuman scream ripped through the air.  
 _It was Henry’s name but sounding so distorted, so filled with SPITE, that he couldn’t even comprehend at the moment- only a few seconds after he heard it, his brain could decipher it.  
And when it did, he wished it didn’t.  
If e_veryone came from a potential different dimension, he didn’t want to know where THIS creature was coming from and why William had turned out like this. Sure, he had a few ideas… _none of them were good though.  
… _in none of those scenarios he would have wanted to meet him.  
Thankfully he had managed- so he opened the doors back up, falling back into his chair.   
Alright, alright, unless the demon child showed back up, this should now be easy to handle-  
Looking up he spotted a withered Springbonnie, with bright white eyes staring down at him from the vents.   
For a few moments both just stared at each other.   
Then Henry raised an eyebrow. “… is there any way I can help you?”   
“Aw shucks _! Ya saw me!_ You’ve always been too good at this!” Smiling brightly Dave looked down at him, not moving any closer to the entrance. “… _but who was THAT, Henry?”_   
There was something about the question that made the place go quieter.  
The animatronics seemed generally vaguely aware of each other and their co-existence beyond the confinements of time and space, so- _was Dave trying to trick him?  
Fo_r what purpose though?  
“… I do not know, Dave. I have not seen this creature yet.”   
_A lie.  
Sh_ifting his vent opening, Dave tilted his head, still grinning.  
“Ya don’t know? _But don’t you know everything?”_   
The words came with a certain edge to them.  
Or maybe Henry was simply growing more and more paranoid of the being in the vents.  
“I know… _almost_ everything. There is a difference, Dave. For example… I do not know why you are inside of a suit like this.”  
 _“… yeah, that’s a mystery, ain’t it, Henry?_ ”   
The air was getting worse, the human’s breath was becoming erratic.  
“… are you okay, Henry?” Crawling forward Dave tried to get in. “If ya need some help-“   
Instantly Henry crushed down the vent door, opening his camera system to resetting the ventilation to ensure he could keep breathing- then he put it down again, opening up the vent once more to a now VERY disgruntled seeming Dave.  
“The fuck was that for! Why did ya lock me out?!”   
_“I had to take care of urgent business.”_   
“I could have helped.” Moving slightly back, the person inside the animatronic hissed. “You’ve always did this, Henry. _You’ve always done this to me_.”   
“ _With good reason_.” Snapping, Henry harshly slapped his hands on the office table, showing his teeth. “ _I was always right about you. You are not getting to threaten me now, William. You are not getting to play innocent in this place. No. William, I know you would do it.”  
“D_o what?” Equally as aggressive, Davetrap snapped back at him.  
“ _You_ would ensure my death.”   
_“That’s ludicrous!_ You ensured your OWN death! Maybe if ya would have trusted me more and wouldn’t have used me like some sort of- PAWN, _maybe then you wouldn’t have been snacked on by a stupid doggo!”  
“N_onsense!” Henry hissed. “That is not what I am talking about in either case. It did not matter what I did for you, did it? It never mattered. _William, you are not capable of loyalty, you are not capable of putting duty over your selfish, petty desires_. For a few moments, for a little, yes, but once the urge becomes too strong, you snap back into your animalistic nature. You needed guidance, but you did not care for it. All you cared for was getting what you wanted. _And once someone could offer you more than me, you turned on me._ ”   
Bitterly Dave scoffed.   
“Ya think that and there’s no way to change your mind, is there? Never was. Henry, think about it from my perspective for a moment maybe- if you would have treated me like an actual friend, like an actual equal partner, instead of seeing me as an untamed animal that may turn on ya any given second- _maybe then I would have not yearned for someone who did_.”   
“You are not getting around this, you are not getting around betraying me _, I gave you a LAST chance and you have-“  
“N_o Henry, _YOU are not getting around this_.” Coldly Dave snapped at him, stopping him from saying anything further, the icy disgust evident in his words. “You think you can turn anything and everything into a game of ‘give some, get some’. _You think you can simmer friendships down to a little spreadsheet of what you’re owed and what you give._ Frankly, though, you’re good at it, pal. Even with all the animosity you’ve always harbored for me deep inside of ya, you’ve always ensured I’d get my cut and felt treated well.   
_But the thing is, Henry, and I know ya don’t get it, but there’s more to friendship than just the sum of its parts. There’s more to a partnership than a simple dividin’ of responsibility and benefits.  
Th_e whole time we were together, you were alone in your head. You thought of me as a little add-on. _Were you scared of what I’m capable of? Of losing control? Or were you scared of having someone with you in your head? Somethin’ you’d miss if it ever disappeared?  
He_nry, old friend, I wanted to ask you something, ever since your stupid speech _\- what did you ACTUALLY want?”  
“W_hat _\- what do you mean?_ ”   
Laying inside of the vent, he made a vague gesture.  
“Your whole… deal. Immortality and stuff. _Why_? For what?”   
“I-“  
Yet before he could explain himself, William interrupted him again.   
“No. _I’m not askin’ for what you THINK you did it for_. I’m askin’ for what you actually did it for. Because ya can ramble on about a utopia all you like, it doesn’t matter for you, does it? Will it fix you? Building a society of immortals… do you think it’s going to stop you from waking up at night, worryin’ someone might come to kill you? That you’ll be able to see people as people and not as props? That you’re gonna get better if you just live long enough? You’re miserable, Henry. You lived your entire life alone, while surrounded by others and _you’d hate immortality_ , unless you truly believe it’ll give you the chance to change.”   
“You are speaking NONSENSE!” Heated, the Pink Guy raised his voice at him. “I was doing FINE! Hell, even if not, so what!? _My wish to finish humanity and give it its full potential was NOT a selfish one. I am NOT miserable, I am NOT lonely, my plans were impeccable and selfless and you-_ “   
  
“ _Henry_.”   
It almost sounded soft.  
“ _You need help. **Let me in**_.”   
  
At that Henry closed the vent, reset the ventilation and slowly balled his fist, trying to remain as calm as possible.   
Through the door, Dave’s concerningly calm and certain voice sounded, almost completely muffled.  
“… eventually you’ll let me in, old friend. I know that. _You know that._ And it actually doesn’t matter what I say! I wouldn’t even need to convince ya. Because you can’t stand the feelin’ of being stuck. Because you’ll try out everything _. Now that you’re immortal, you have nothing to reach for- so you will reach for everything.”  
  
Th_e clock chimed.   
  
Six AM.  
  
Henry stumbled to the saferoom.  
 _He had to find a way out of this place.  
Fast. _


	4. Intermission - A lovely date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked:
> 
> Have Simon and Mike ever been on a date?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, my sources say that they did indeed have a First Date at some point, made Cinnamon French Toast a while later, and even went out on Halloween calling it a Pick of the Patch!
> 
> (Okay, but seriously, I can't put links, but they're all bookmarked on this blog! Support these people, they’re fantastic and you’re sick of my shit, they made their own damn work and they did it AMAZINGLY. Seriously. CLICK THE LINKS. ENJOY THE WORKS. CHECK OUT MORE OF THEIR WORKS.  
> And leave them some love by commenting/kudos, it is always such an amazing gift for a creator! It would be really kind of you guys!)
> 
> But well, seeing as they now have some more time for this kind of thing…

* * *

They had been driving through the desert-esque area for a few hours now, or at least it felt like it.   
Time was hard to tell right now, but in the good way, in the comforting way.  
Mike was driving the van at the moment- they tended to switch up, aside from night driving, which Mike always did, as Simon struggled with seeing at night too well due his calibration. Maybe they’d find a way to fix it, but frankly, Mike didn’t care that his boyfriend was a little bit night-blind.  
The reason he was driving right now though, was because he wanted to reach a certain spot.  
Simon was reading a book Mike had given him out loud, providing both the pleasure of hearing his comforting voice, as well as him finally getting through it- Mike had been badgering him for weeks to do so.  
 _The ending is what made it worth it!  
Sm_iling to himself at that memory, Simon flipped a page to a new chapter- taking a short break to look outside.  
“… Mike, where are we going?”   
“Motherfucking guess.” The man seemed in a good mood, smiling deviously.  
 _“… is that the Grand Canyon?”  
“Y_up!” Excited Mike looked forward, keeping his eyes on the road. “I always wanted to see this stupid place. I bet the sight from above is AMAZING. And the sunset! The sunset will be incredible! Can you imagine being that close to the stars-“   
For a moment Simon thought there was some reason visiting the Grand Canyon was a bad idea-  
That thought however was swept SWIFTLY to the side as he realized something.  
“Mike…”   
“Hm?”   
_“… is this a date?”_ Softly Simon asked.   
Instantly the generally aggressive guy grew a bright shade of red- like during the date they had been on before. And the one before that. AND the one before that one. _It would probably never stop._   
“I- well- I mean- if you-“ He took a breath. “YES. _Yes it fucking IS. Is there a PROBLE_ M?”   
Laughing the Phone Guy stretched himself, looking out with newfound interest. “… thank you.”   
“You- yeah- I mean- _again, I always wanted to see it_. And just climbing around the Grand Canyon while no one is around? That would be pretty fucking cool, right?!”   
“You mean while no one- uh- can hear you scream?”   
“EXACTLY. See, you get it.”   
Pleased Mike looked shortly at him, then at the road again.  
Watching him, feeling at peace, Simon leaned back, letting the late summer sun shine onto him.   
The thing with Mike was that he really loved abandoned places. Deep, dark forests, mountains off the beaten path, a hut in an area that otherwise had only cornfields… when Mike wanted to be romantic, he brought him there.  
 _And dear god, he was the only person on this planet who was allowed to ask for something like this without being demanded to step away at least twenty feet and stay put while the police is being informed.  
No_… he was looking forward to this.  
  
They had been climbing around, not for long, for a good amount of time though.  
It was nice- the feeling of the rock under their fingers, the noise of wind and the sun reflecting on the ground far, far below them- reflecting in a river that seemed tiny from up there.  
Dangerous?  
Maybe.  
Maybe it was VERY dangerous, actually.   
But they were tough- they had been through so much, both of them were completely convinced that if either of them would fall, they would survive it. _Somehow_.  
The sight from up here was beautiful, it had been worth it.  
And finally, the taller of the two seemed to have spotted something.  
“There! We can sit on there!”   
“Oh- fuck yeah, that looks pretty sweet!”   
Getting out a soft outside blanket, they sat down on the little ledge and took out some food, making themselves as comfortable as possible to witness the sunset that was approaching.  
Both of them were leaning against each other- safe from wind and weather, on the still warm stone radiating heat through the blanket.  
“… it is beautiful.” Mike mumbled, hiding his face a little in the shoulder and neck of his partner.   
_Being sincere was embarrassing, but-  
He wanted to be sincere right now.  
And _when nobody was nearby for miles and miles… then it was okay, right?  
Gently Simon cupped his face, kissing him- to the best of his abilities- with his smooth dial.  
“ _That it is, Mike_.”   
Intertwining their fingers, they looked both out at plane that was colored in gold, orange and black by the late and sleepy sun.   
Silence was between them, the restful kind of silence…   
Until finally the first few stars started shining above them.  
Laying down on his lap, Simon was staring up at the sky, trying to see if he could count them, now that there were only so few of them.  
Mike played with his phone cord, staring up too.  
“You know… when I was young, I always wanted to be an astronaut.” Mike started. “… I didn’t like thinking about my future, but sometimes, when looking at the sky at night, it felt like there was a place for me. I imagined leaving everything behind and trying to- I don’t know. It was only about being somewhere else. Somewhere, where other things mattered.”   
Simon snickered, gently.   
“… it’s always either a dinosaur or a space phase, isn’t it?”   
“Hey! I had both! They’re just fucking cool, okay?”   
“Didn’t mean to tease you! Uh- actually, it’s better than my phase.”   
Curiously the sitting man glanced down.  
“… how so?”   
“Oh, I- I had a Greek mythology phase.” Nervous Simon laughed. “And… that in itself wouldn’t actually have been a problem, if I wouldn’t have learned all the things I knew about it from cartoons and comics. Like- the one cartoon where Odysseus was on the ship and had this owl and-“   
“Never watched it. _Always fucking hated cartoons_.” The guy scoffed, before pausing. “Maybe… we should watch it together… someday.”   
“… I’d really like to.” Enjoying Mike’s touch for a moment, he almost forgot to continue what he wanted to say _\- wait, right_. “Uh- anyhow, so I learned it all from child-friendly media and… when we had the Greek mythology in class, a few years after that, I felt like such an expert. I explained the entire cartoon to my class. The, uh- the teacher seemed- not upset, but it seemed to hurt his soul to have to tell me that the original story wasn’t exactly like that.”   
For a moment he paused, thinking about it.  
Then he continued.  
“… I played with Ian a lot in the garden- on the good days I mean. Yeah, on the good days when I could convince him to come out with me… and we played these myths and gave them our own twists, because we were of course a lot smarter than the greeks. Why didn’t they think of what WE thought of?” Quietly he chuckled. “… _morals in stories were always lost on me_.”   
“At least you got SOME parts of the mythology. The closest I ever got to understanding any mythology stuff was with what Rick Riordan spoonfed to me.”   
“… who?”   
“Ah fuck- _an author._ I gotta make you read his work sometimes.” Mike shook his head. “He’s great, I swear- but that’s not the point. I think. What was the point again?”   
“… was there supposed to be a point to this?”   
Both looked confused at each other, before Mike facepalmed, hiding a bit of a smile.  
“Aw fuck, look at us. _Terminal dementia. Each day our brains get consumed more.”_   
They laughed a little, the sky having now turned fully into a dark blue, covered in glitter and stripes, dominated by a large full moon.  
Finally, Simon sat up again, looking down.  
“… I want to get to the river.”   
_“In the dark?”  
“In the dark.”   
_Mike grinned. “Madlad.”   
Turning on the lights inside of his head, Simon lit the way, while Mike checked the route for the safest pathway around. This SEEMED to be at least some sort of semi-normal route- not too safe, certainly not around this time of day, but it wasn’t a straight up wall.  
Hell, they had useful gear with them too.  
 _It was somewhat safe!  
Kinda, a little, mostly!  
But _it did take a while.  
No matter, they were moving together, chatting and teasing each other, so it felt like no time was passing at all- the only thing showing the progression of time was the moon above, slowly moving through the sky.  
When they arrived down at the water, it was wonderful.  
The gentle sound of it moving along the river’s edge, the wind playing with the surface, coloring patterns into it with the rocks on the ground.   
Not that this was easy to see- all that was really visible was the silver and black playing with each other.  
The noise still was reassuring though, enough to make Mike creep up to the edge, ensuring he wouldn’t accidentally drop in, softly pulling Simon behind him, until they arrived at the closet spot they could, sitting down one more time.  
Playfully Mike splashed at Simon, who raised an arm to shield himself, rolling his eyes- though with a bemused smile.  
He dipped the tips of his fingers into the water, enjoying how cold and clear it felt.  
Then he looked up once more, the stars now feeling framed by the walls around them.  
“… you know- places like these… they feel so much more real.”   
“Hm?” Mike leaned back, curious. “What is that supposed to mean?”   
“Oh, uh- y’know. It feels like… this is a place beyond time. I know there’ll be a tomorrow, but while I’m here with you- it feels like- it feels different. As if just we exist and nothing else. I, uh- I kinda like it. I hope that isn’t weird. I- I don’t actually want everything else to disappear, but-” Embarrassed he laughed. “Sorry, I think I ruined the moment-“   
_“Simon. I love you.”_  
Mike stood there, between shadows and moonlight, his expression was hard to see and even harder to read- but his voice showed it all, every little bit of it.  
 _“… I love you too, Mike.”  
Ta_king his hands into his own, Simon smiled at him.  
Feeling…  
… happy.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
All good things had to end though.  
Perking up, Simon frowned, leaning to the side to try and look behind Mike.  
“Uh- can you hear that?”   
In the far distance…   
… ‘yarrrr—rr-r-r-r-r-r-r-r!’  
Mike DIDN’T turn.  
 _“… is it the sound of a pirate Foxy?”_   
“Uh. Yes.”   
_“… on a raft?”  
“…_ yeah…”  
 _“Coming right towards us?”_   
“Well- uh- yes.”   
_“With violent intentions?”_   
“Most likely.”   
Slowly Mike sighed, slowly turning around. “… they always find us, don’t they.”   
  
The Fox jumped off the raft, his hook shining in the dim light, along with his teeth.  
“YAA-AA-AR! I AM THE FOXY OF THE CANYON LAKE! I HAVE SPEND DECADES DOWN HERE, GUARDING MY TREASURES! WHO ARE YEEE TO ENTER MY- MY- MY PLACE THING. MY TERRITORY!!”   
“Buddy, pal, friend, for fuck’s sake, we’re just having a walk. We’re not even on the river. We’re not on your territory.”  
Foxy’s golden eye shined.  
“Arrr… is that you? My arch nemesis? _FREDDY’S MICHELANGELO_?!”   
Baffled Mike stared at him, before rubbing his face.  
“That- that is not my name _\- ah you know what, fuck it.”_   
As Mike rolled up his sleeves and got out a taser, Simon fell back.  
 _“You got this honey!”_  
 _“… yeah, yeah, fuck you too.”_ He signed at the fox. “Get the fuck over here, filthy pretend-pirate.”   
“WHAT DID YOU CALL ME, YOU FILTHY! F-FILTHY! URGH- LAND-DWELLER!? I’LL MAKE YEE WALK THE PLANK FOR THAT!”   
  
With that the epic fight broke out.


	5. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> coffee-bat said:
> 
> hello good sir, i'd like to send some p r o m p t s. so i haven't played ucn in a LONG time, but some ideas off the top of my head: toy freddy (would be funny), funtime foxy (cause they're a bitch), n. fredbear and maybe nightmare (cause they're twisted versions of his b e l o v e d fredbear), and maybe foxy+bonnie (cause it's a bitch). just some ideas! also, being a man of culture, i'd like to request some tortu- jk, jk (i'd say sth funny but character limit).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will fight you for this ask.  
> I will come to you home and pick you up and fling your body into space and into literal Among Us.  
> My brain was going a mile a minute trying to gather enough coins to get rid of Funtime Foxy, and keep on top of EVERYTHING ELSE-  
> And yet I was still surprised when I finally got jumpscared.  
> Welp, I couldn’t have predicted it, so it’s kinda fun being able to write this now

_Be on top of his games.  
Watch his shows.  
Check in, but only at the right times.  
_Henry grinded his teeth. _  
_  
_It was almost like he had a son again- dear god, this truly was hell, wasn’t it?_  
  
For a moment he had thought the Helpy robot was joking as he elaborated on what the damn plastic piece of shit’s mechanic was-  
 _No.  
No cursing.  
_He shook his head.  
 _That was being petty for no reason. He had a mechanic- and it was a stupid one- but that was better than nothing. It was better than being told “you will die” without being able to do anything about it.  
_ For a moment he frowned, a though manifesting itself in the back of his mind.  
… if he would know there was no way to escape the pain, he would grow numb to it.   
So whoever or whatever set this up seemed to have a keen interest in-  
  
The clock chimed, it was time to play.  
  
Instantly he pulled up the monitor. He had been gifted the leeway of being allowed to eradicate one of them- and dear god, he would not say no, not if it was the only chance to give a little bit of payback.  
He checked on Toy Freddy _\- a good contender to be murdered_ \- and clicked the door of the- vacuum cleaner- _dear god, this would make his brain rot-_ then he moved on to more sensible things, like checking on Foxy, who was thankfully out, then moving over to gathering coins.  
Laughter from the door.  
 ** _“Mister Miller… look at you. You seem stressed.”  
_** _“Why yes, I am quite tense.”_ Without looking up he closed the doors, opening them up right away. “I have to admit to my distain of the character selection that currently is coming after me. They make no sense, you see?”   
Another, similarly as deep voice sounded, albeit with a brighter tint to it-  
 ** _“… oh, don’t be ashamed of that, Mr. Miller. They have more distain for you than you do for them.”_**   
Once more, doors closed, doors open.   
He didn’t even need to look.   
“I can assume that, yes, but that is hardly my issue, is it now? My issue is their reality bending and tedious habits.”   
For this round he would be stuck on the cameras, wouldn’t he?  
Once more he flipped over to Foxy, gathering coins and being quietly thankful for the fact that he and Bonnie had not switched places yet.  
He had to get this done in the first time-warped hour and if he didn’t- he wasn’t sure when exactly the clock would move over and he didn’t want to find out.  
The nightmare duo was chuckling, so he shortly put the monitor down to look inside of Nightmare Fredbear’s red eyes.  
“… what are you supposed to be?”   
**_“You have never truly understood your own creation, did you…? If it lives… it changes…”  
_** “The only nightmare I ever created were the suits and-“ He turned to the other side, spotting the more pinkish eyes shining from that frame. “… you. Are you not supposed to be me?”   
**_“I think you can answer that yourself.”  
_** Shaking his head, Henry dismissed both of them, closing the doors and opening the camera feed, checking once more on Foxy, helping out Toy Freddy and finally snatching up the last few coins he needed- instantly he moved over to the price corner, ordering one of the silver coins-  
His eyes darted to the clock-  
 _Oh god, only a few more moments before the timer skipped-  
_ The pink hellfox was peering out of its cove, grinning widely- a grin that instantly was replaced by an agonized and hateful scream as Henry used the coin, allowing himself for a moment to watch the machine literally being disintegrated into clear silver dust.   
From the side, Nightmare Fredbear chuckled.  
 ** _“… how cruel.”_**   
“This is a dog-eat-dog world _. You should not try to inflict onto others what you are not willing to go through yourself.”  
 **“Oh? Are you ready for what is coming for you then?”  
**_ Abruptly Henry started laughing, as he once more checked on Foxy, then moved to Toy Freddy.  
“What? What is coming for me? _Being brought back to Fredbear’s, except this time I am immortal, have inhuman strength and can start honing my ability to move whatever I desire with my mind?_ What a terrible fate you are threatening me with, Nightmare! I am appalled! _How dare you gift me with everything I have ever wanted!”  
_ One last time he switched back to Foxy, then deactivated the monitors, assuming it was best to be on Foxy’s camera right away, so when he pulled the camera back up-  
His eyes fell on the little figure of Bonnie that was now on the table.  
 _For the love of god, how could he have been that stupid!?  
_ Looking up at Nightmare Fredbear’s red eyes, he saw a bit of bemusement in it- that and a deep, underlaying level of pure disgust.  
 ** _“… will you ever learn, Mr. Miller? Will you ever realize that the resistance you have been met with was not from nowhere? Will you learn that you cursed them?”  
_** “ _NONSENSE_.” Henry HISSED. “I considered you smart _. I was wrong_. The only reason the children were struggling against me because I could not yet accommodate them well enough- _propaganda against me and my mission was spread_. William seemed to have been just fine with his joke of a family that he had gotten himself in a flight of passing fancy. _What made him different?!”_   
There was only silence from the outside, as Henry glanced once more at the figure.   
Still Bonnie and it wouldn’t change.  
Muttering more so to himself than to the Fredbear, he stressed his point.  
 _“Nature has turned on me for taking what I desired, much like the ocean, the skies and the land has turned against humanity at every opportunity. Even in the different religious texts, humanity and to steal and take with violence what it needed to become what it was meant to be. One god banished the species in fear of them becoming immortal, much like the being itself- another wanted to deny us fire as petty retaliation, because fire brings creation- and it had to be taken back by theft.”  
_ Not quite, but close enough.  
He didn’t want to recount the stories.  
 _“… if you want to grow, you have to feed, and if you feed, you destroy. And so, destruction brings new creation. We feed off the old gods and create new rules. Nature does not like to be controlled and abused- all it wishes is to slowly burn itself out. Until nothing is left. But we humans preserve- we are a species who is so defenseless, yet have made it this far, by preserving knowledge, by learning early, early and as much as we can- eventually however it will come to a standstill. You can only learn so much with the time given. Until said time become infinite. Some ills of humanity can only be cured by allowing humans to permanently remain and learn. For that we need immortality.”  
_ There still was only silence and he sighed-  
He had wasted too much time.  
The Bonnie figure was still there, but he might as well get it over with, he wouldn’t get around him disabling the cameras.   
Quickly he closed the door to the left side where he knew Nightmare Fredbear was waiting, pulling up the cameras, to Bonnie’s aggressive scream-  
  
 _But before he could really boot the thing up, a giant black paw came from above grabbing the little tablet, cracking it.  
_  
The Amalgamation was towering over him, black fur and metal broken up by the silver shine of its teeth.   
Baffled for a few seconds, Henry looked at him.  
 _“I… did not hear you.”  
 **“The others are not your problem anymore, are they now?”**_  
With its vile grin it picked Henry up by the head, an incredibly painful experience, playfully throwing him against the wall with full force- a crack was sounded and as Henry tried to stumble back on his feet, he quickly realized he couldn’t- _something was damaged, so badly that the pain was too much-_  
His head was still sharp though, the white pain barely being fended off by his mind trying to figure out how this creature could be HERE-  
 _It had been HIM, it was HIM, what would make him want to-  
_ Blood was dripping from out his mouth, tasting disgustingly mechanical-   
_“… you… you are supposed to be ME-“  
_ Smiling the monstrous bear-esque beast picked him up, causing another wave of incoherent, glowing pain to wash through Henry, his whole chest being just enough to fill the Amalgamation’s hand.  
 ** _“I was you. We have seen all your thoughts, all your ideas, we have shaped, and we have remembered. You are me.  
And we crave violence, Mister Miller.  
Your words were pretty to hear, but we do not believe them. We know what we are- a monster who thinks of itself too highly, an animal unable to resist the siren call of violence and blood. Our creation has not made us better than all the monsters we feared becoming. There is only one difference between us…  
  
… I am not ashamed of my needs anymore.”  
_**  
With that he started pulling on Henry’s arm, pulling as the delirious man convulsed under him-  
Ready to take a bite out of it.  
 ** _  
“But I do love creation too… and I cannot wait to see what we will turn you into. The brain is moldable, Henry. It does fantastical things under pain and pressure…”  
_** His other claw was digging into the human’s head.  
The other was pulling the now separated arm to his maw, biting down with a sickening, wet crunch.  
Happily he sighed.   
The few seconds of Henry’s awareness that were left only wondered quietly if his parts being consumed would mean he would never get them back-  
The Amalgamation seemed to hear the thought, grinning at him with its now stained teeth.   
  
**_“I will vomit you back… to relieve your horror…”_**   
  
… with that Henry faded. 


	6. Passing time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> deceitful-jester said:
> 
> I hate to be That Guy but I feel like the interaction with Dave {or whatever the thing in Hell is} was leading up to something. It's likely too early to ask for elaboration but I have no impulse control and not enough dopamine so I'm going to not so vaguely indicate that I want to see more if there is more to see. If there has to be a cast perhaps Mangle, Toy Chica, Ballora and of course Springtrap. If it isn't that deep, I'm sorry I wasted your time! Have a good whatever time you read this at.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Absolutely be That Guy™, I LOVE That Guy™!  
> Though frankly, I feel like you’re overhyping this, while I do have a bit of story around, it’s no good.  
> Ah, whatever, there’s only like- 35 more days of this stuff, so it doesn’t matter if I write myself into corners.  
> All these drabbles are EXCLUSIVELY written with zero brain, but still, thank you very much for that request.  
> While I would LOVE to make a drabble with that cast, because it’s a fun one that crawls into your office directly, it wouldn’t be that lore heavy.  
> So instead these people are just going to be cameos. Also, jumping forward in time by a fair bit
> 
> Warning for a fair bit of torture!

Time didn’t work right here.   
Time passed, but it didn’t. Not at all.  
He was allowed to drink and occasionally eat in the saferoom, but…  
Everything that would be an temporal indicator was gone.   
No natural light, no physical change coming from this body-  
At least he was still breathing and bleeding, but that didn’t make it much easier to define the timeframe he was in.  
 _Over and over and over.  
The night started over and over and over.  
_He was growing more and more sick of it.   
The only interesting thing left…  
… was dying.  
It gave him the chance to talk to the animatronics- and to get to know the someone who was behind this place.  
 _The one he shouldn’t have killed.  
_ It was such a peculiar title. So pompous, it must have been made up by a child.  
But who the hell could that be?!  
There had been too many kids. The only really noteworthy ones being Lucas and Charlie.   
Yet it didn’t see like they were here-   
A meeting with the Marionette had been enough to prove as much. The day the words “I don’t hate you” came from the dangly creature’s mouth was the day he would simply vanish from the universe.  
And Lucas?  
Lucas was too kind, too hesitant- he had preserved his gentle nature, fighting only when absolutely necessary. There was no way he would create an entire torture location.   
Hell, he had even tried to ask Scott, but he refused to talk about it. All he guaranteed was that it wasn’t him.  
No, no, it had to be a kid- everything about this place told him that.  
He knew how kids worked and what they liked.  
A baddie that attacked you killed you within a second just because you didn’t watch his show?  
Ludicrous.   
And no, he wouldn’t talk about Toy Freddy.  
  
Some of the animatronics had nothing of interest to say-  
But many did.  
  
The real bothersome point that had been standing out to him was how… actually friendly the machines were.  
Yes, they HURT him, but they called him a friend, cracked jokes and their attacks oftentimes seemed like mere petty retaliation… as if they didn’t really meant for any permanent harm. In a world where nothing left permanent harm, their retaliations became rather vicious.   
An exception were the nightmares, but it seemed to be in their nature.   
Henry made notes where he could, as well as getting used to their method of attack and torture.  
It was a double win-  
…   
… yet he hated it.  
It frustrated him to have to invite some of them in.  
 _It felt filthy.  
Death was something intimate.   
_If someone killed you, there should be some sort of purpose, some sort of connection there.  
It was another mark you could leave on a person.  
There was something appalling about offering your body, regardless in what way.   
At least to him.  
Alas, his blood was the only currency still existing in this world and at least he got to pick and choose when he would be torn to pieces, most of the time. By now he had become good enough.   
Good enough.  
 _Barely_.  
  
Impatiently he clicked his nails on the table, quickly putting on the mask as the room started flickering.  
Toy Chica peeked through his eyeholes, grinning.  
“… and? Who has the honor today, _Henryyyy_?”  
“Not you.”   
“Aw! How unfair!” She pouted, looking out of the doors, trying to spot Ballora, who both of them could hear moving in the back. “We had sooooo much fun last time! What? You want Ballora to-“   
“You testing out your cannibalistic fantasies is not my definition of fun, dear. And no. I need to talk to someone else.”   
“Pft.” Pouting she moved away, slinking back into the vent on the ground. “Fine! Have fun I guess. Better not let me catch you without the mask! Because if I get to win, I get to win, _no exceptions_.”   
“There will be no problems with that.”   
Henry quietly sighed, taking off the old mask.   
It wasn’t even a Fredbear mask.   
For some reason it was one of the most disappointing things about this place.  
Ballora drew close and he carefully closed the door on her, trying not to interrupt her routine too much. Nothing ruined a good melody like the sound of stomping doors.   
Today he wasn’t worried about the power running out.   
It all stopped once one of them entered.  
Everything stopped once one of them entered.   
_A rule.  
Many rules.  
And none of them made much sense.  
_  
Again his nails tapped on the table, anxious and almost angry.  
Mangle was probably already caught in a vent-snare…   
… but William took far too long to get here.  
William.  
Dave.  
Davetrap.  
 _Never mind that._  
Finally, the bemused mask of the rotten bunny appeared in the vents, staring down at him.  
“… having fun?”   
“… Dave. Good to see you.” Henry stared up to him. “ _We need to talk.”_   
“Eh… I dunno…” Playfully Dave began crawling back inside. “I’m not in the m-“  
 _“You can come in.”_  
Instantly he had ALL of Dave’s attention, even though he wished he didn’t. It was always a little uncomfortable to see William overly excited, and usually he knew what exactly it was about at least- he wasn’t sure about this one.  
 _He wouldn’t put it past William to be elated over the chance to hurt him.  
Without repercussions.  
_“Really?” His one ear twitched as he stared down, transfixed.   
Predatory animals, with two of their eyes in front.  
Human always have been predator and prey at once and Henry had known it from the very beginning, he had seen it in himself and others.   
It was merely more apparent in William specifically, him and his unstrained behavior controlled by nothing but instinct.   
“ _Really_.”   
And yet still- this place was a hellish mess and his mind was just as much of one- it reminded him of back then, when William was utterly excited about an event. ‘Is it actually happening? Really?!’  
Really.  
Pleased Dave laughed, loudly.   
An ugly laugh when you were on the receiving end.  
“I told ya, Henry. _I told ya you’d do it.”_   
“… you know me well.” Quietly he watched Dave move out, swiftly and nimbly- “… and you seem to know this place too.”  
“Is that why ya let me in?”   
“… not only. But I might as well ask you while you are here, correct?”   
“ _Hm_.”   
His eyes wandered over Henry’s body.  
Probably wondering which limb he should separate from his body first.  
Henry shuddered.  
Dave got comfortable in front of the office table, smiling.  
Everything else had gone quiet, the power not even being visible anymore-  
But the timer was.  
Midnight.  
Putting his feet on the table and leaning back on the little chair that he had gotten from who-knows-where, the cyborg grinned.”… alright then! I was worried you’d might be disappointed, since I don’t know anythin’ about this place!”   
“You do not?”   
“Nah.”   
“… then how did _you_ get here?”   
“Uhhhhh, probably for the same reason you’re here?”   
“… but you did not DIE.”   
_“I didn’t?”_   
Frustrated the Pink Guy leaned back too, taking a deep breath.  
This wasn’t going anywhere.  
“… what is the last thing you remember?”   
Cheerfully Dave giggled. “I don’t remember anything! Never had any memory! _Head empty!”_   
Henry wasn’t stupid enough to believe that.  
Dave liked messing with others- play-pretend stupidity that was aided by his genuine habit of being rather emotional- but they had spent far too much time together to have that work.  
 _“… I know you are lying.”  
_ Instantly the mood changed, even if Davetrap didn’t change the slightest bit about his pose.   
“Ah! Ya do? _Or do ya just think ya do?!”_ Again he snickered. “Either way. I don’t know anythin’ that could be useful for you.”   
“Maybe I am not out for anything useful _? Maybe I am simply worried about you and how you have gotten yourself into a suit?”  
_ Dave laughed, loudly, but Henry continued.  
 _“… do you need my help to get out of it?”_   
“No.” It was cold.  
And Henry responded in kind.   
“… see that is how I know you are not down here for the same reason as me. So why are you here? Why would the one I should not have killed brought you here…? After all- you and me, we most likely killed him together.”   
Tilting his head slightly, the other guy inspected him and for a moment Henry tensed up, expecting to be attacked- but Dave simply relaxed, changing his pose, allowing his legs dangling over the side of the chair.  
“Hey, Henry! Did ya miss me?” All smiles and ice cream. “… it seems pretty lonely and borin’ in this office. And it feels like we haven’t talked in a long time…”   
For a moment the Pink Guy stayed quiet, watching the other one, who continued.  
“We’ve done so much fun stuff together! This place might not be all that bad if we stick together, right?” He paused. “That of course only means anythin’ if ya WANT to spend time with me. If ya miss me when I’m gone. So. _Did you?_ ”  
Slowly Henry stretched his fingers.   
_“… of course I missed you, Dave.”_  
  
Both of them watched each other, the air prickling.  
  
Then, once more, Dave was laughing again.  
“ _That’s why I like you, Henry_. You can do such pretty things with your mouth and mind. Sayin’ JUST the right things. _I always love when you talk to me. Or about me. Everything you say is like a charm, making things so much better than they actually are._ The thing is- Henry- with a gift like that, I can’t ever know if ya MEAN it.”   
Leaning in, Davetrap inspected him, his big, white eyes almost all-consuming.  
“… if ya missed me, _how come you’ve spent time with anybody but me recently? Ya invited plenty of people into the office. Despite knowing I was the one asking POLITELY for it._ ”   
Ridiculous.  
… yet Henry had to play along.  
“Please, remain calm my friend. I was talking to them first, because I was gathering intel. Last time I was not informed enough, and you seemed… displeased. Was I incorrect?”   
It was amazing how much emotion this mask could still show.  
Just below the rotting maw, the little shine, a grin and _not a fun on_ e, judging by how it didn’t reach his eyes.  
 _“You have an excuse for everything, don’t you Henry?”  
“Or perhaps I am simply being genuine and elaborate on my feelings and decisions as you ask me._ You on the other hand seem rather hostile today. Would you like to explain why you are so aggressive towards me?”   
Both of them looked at the other, and while they couldn’t walk in that perfect circle that pacing and threatening humans always seem to fall into, their bodies still conveyed the same.   
Then, once again, Dave tilted into the other direction, his large ear following suit, smiling.  
“Aggressive? I ain’t aggressive, Henry! _I’m just curious!_ Quit bein’ so tense all the time!”   
Slowly losing his patience, Henry rubbed his temples.  
“Okay, then. I do believe you are at least partially real. But logically you must have arrived from a different timeline than me, one where you died and got put into a suit. Why would you be so mad at me however?”   
Standing up from his chair, Dave slowly moved over, as Henry turned as far to the side as he could to keep an eye on him.  
“Ya need a massage, Henry.”  
 _“You know I dislike to be touched.”_  
“Welp, is it MY fault you’ve made yourself so tense that you now need a massage?!” Offended the animatronic stopped, leaning down to him.   
Smelling like oil and peppermint.  
 _“Ya really should let me do what’s best for ya.”  
_ That WAS a threat.  
… at least if this thing snapped his neck, it would be quick, painless and unpersonal.  
Slowly and quietly Henry breathed out.   
_“… alright then, Dave. Please continue.”_   
Yet, even if he had made the agreement, didn’t mean he wasn’t nervous about it.  
When the fuzzy fingers touched his shoulders he almost jumped, drawing another, somewhat sadistic chuckle out of his former friend.   
“It’s funny to see ya like this.”   
_“I live to entertain_.”   
Yet another chuckle.  
“… ya sure do.”   
The fingers starting massaging, digging themselves into and against the muscles causing Henry barely anything else but pain. Sure- him tensing up his shoulders didn’t help at all, but he couldn’t react any other way, the impulse to tense up was simply bypassing his brain.   
The other man behind him was simply humming his favorite melody.  
In the hall of the mountain king.  
“… remember when I taught you how to play it?” Trying to relax Henry began reminiscing.  
“Hmmm… yeah! That was fun! I dunno why people didn’t try to teach me an instrument before that, I think I would have really loved learnin’ it. Good that I met you!”   
“Indeed. _Good that you met me.”_   
… there was discomfort, a genuine feeling of worry.   
_Fear?  
Was this fear?  
_A fear not caused by the direct expectation of physical harm, but instead by-   
_By what?_  
He was probably just- not really comfortable with the thought of not having William in his grasp anymore. William was like him- and that was why he liked and why he despised him. Whatever came into William’s head, he would do and there was nothing Henry could do to prevent it.  
Part of him would be somewhat relieved if Dave just- murdered him right here and fast.  
… giving up so early wasn’t really his thing however.  
“Will- Dave.”   
“Yeah?” The guy was still squishing and mushing away at Henry’s shoulders, seemingly not caring THAT much about actually relaxing his friend. “What’cha want?”   
“… I only wanted to ask… do _you like it here?”_   
For a minute or so Dave paused, really thinking about it.  
“It ain’t the worst. I get to play with ya, no fuzz, no more havin’ to try and shut down Freddy’s or kill kiddens.” Slowly his focused back on Henry, his next words deliberate. _“… don’t ya think so? Immortality and animatronics, what’s not to love? Sure, the torture is a lil’ sucky, but hey, ya said you’d do ANYTHING to become immortal.”  
_ Something scraped over the back of Henry’s mind.   
Was Dave being manipulated to comply?  
Sold a false image of perfection? _  
… or was he simply trying to torment him, trying to fool him into thinking that he ever asked for this?  
_ Either way.  
Leaning back, Henry tried to look at him, choosing his next words carefully.  
“… while I appreciate my robotic works being with me and having no reason to fear death- I do dislike the repetitive loop at the unending threat of pain. I feel… _bored_. Do you not sometimes wish for variety?”   
“Everythin’ is a loop, Henry. Ya gotta be happy with the loop you get stuck in.”   
“… you need more ambition, Dave. Accepting and endless repetitive cycle is almost as low as accepting death. There is no perfection to be found in remaining with the same variables.”  
Dave sighed and retracted his hands, causing Henry to sit up straight.  
“It’s fine. It’s fine. _You’ll never be happy.”_   
“Excuse me?”   
“… what would ya still want, Henry? What is it that you’re lookin’ for right now?”   
“I-“   
Shortly Dave leaned over to check the clock.   
“Whoops! Five AM.” Pleased he turned his head to Henry, who had stood up as well, trying to get some distance between them. “ _Ya know the rules! I’m inside, I gotta… keep ya busy. Give you a bit of a slap around.”  
_ “You will hurt me.”   
Henry’s voice was blank.  
He wasn’t really surprised.   
But the Springbonnie just shrugged.  
“Oh, well- I never said I wouldn’t. _I said I’d help ya_. Which I will!” Taking out his array of tools, from within the damaged parts of the suit.   
Of course Henry was familiar with them.  
Acid spray, a tool with sharp edges to scoop anything out, knives, a tool to part the tissue when needed-  
 _Cleaning.  
Disinfecting.  
Getting out an infestation.  
_The psychopath was giggling to himself, as he sat the things down, Henry suppressing his desire to run away with all his strength.  
 _No point to it. It only would serve to make him look pathetic.  
More pathetic than he already was, in this senseless situation.  
_“Ya know, I’m really happy I get the chance! Ya said ya were the Lord of the Flies… but you gave me the tools to get all the crawlers out. What will happen to ya? Will you be purified? Or simply emptied completely? _Do ya think hell is there to make people into better versions of themselves?”_   
No answer.  
He sighed, signing towards the chair.  
“Sit down again, Henry. I’ll make sure ya won’t die! _Not even for a moment. You will see this procedure through to the end…”  
_  
 _No escape._  
  
He knew the procedure.   
The body needed to be cut open, like an autopsy.   
This would lead to plenty blood going everywhere- William had never been a surgeon. Too impatient, too jumpy, too- careless. But after all, he didn’t try to put it back together- he wanted to clean it, fast and efficient.  
The stomach and intestines were first, cut open and then the lining was being scooped off.  
The stomach had nerves.  
Some of the rest of the organs thankfully didn’t.  
Eyes too, eyes had to go.   
The tongue as well- and then acid would be pushed up the nose, letting it sit there, Dave believing it would clean out the brain before he would have to drill into it.   
You would have to deal with less of a swarm exiting the brain like that.  
But before that?  
Heart and lungs.  
William was obsessively exact and radically reliable in how he did this section.   
He believed he had to be.  
  
 _There were no bugs crawling, no insects nesting in pockets of rotting flesh.  
But Henry doubted William cared.  
Nor did he himself care, as the all-consuming pain purged thoughts first-   
And mercifully, eventually, the life itself too. _


	7. Goldie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonthemagical said:
> 
> Oh henry! im here to help you a bit on this journey through hell. have you heard about a death coin? they cost 10 faztokens! here, lets just set Golden freddy to 1 so you can get used to this mechanic. I believe you can get used to this very quickly! also hi luci ily platonically v much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you were Impostor in Among Us, I’d let you vent in front of me and never tell <3  
> Also while what you’re going after is totally canon, it’s a red herring, will make sense to literally nobody except one specific friend and is pure self-indulgence, so uuuuuh, feel free to skip this one

“Yes, I have already heard of those.” Henry raised an eyebrow. “I even used one of them. They are rather intuitive in their design- though I suppose I appreciate your help.”   
With only Golden Freddy out and about, it was a rather quiet night, time for him to think.  
Frankly, he would feel bad about harming Fredbear.  
Even in this odd suit form, it was still… _his_ suit.  
… yes, indeed, it was hardly even Fredbear at all, at least not how the children had portrayed their savior.  
Just a dirty, mistreated suit.  
 _But it was STILL his suit.  
Hell, how abandoned it was- it was quite upsetting to him, despite everything.   
_Part of him wished he could make the being stop being hostile in order to give it a good scrub-  
Well, perhaps the coin could aid with that. He wasn’t even sure if it did the same thing for every machine, so trying it out would be worth it.  
  
The coins were quickly gathered, seeing as as long as he was looking at the screen, the suit left him alone, most of the time… and even if the creature entered, it would not attack.  
At least it kept its mainly peaceful nature from before.  
A lot else about it had changed- not visually, but in the atmosphere it gave off.   
Old and dusty, it was _soulful_ , but so tired and washed out.  
No child he had ever met had a soul like that, no matter how battered and bruised they have been by the marks of fate.   
_And if they did, they weren’t attached to anything for long, melting into the walls, finding their peace.  
_ This creature held offensive abilities on par with Charlie’s psychokinetic talents, as well as the defensive ability to vanish at will, as Fredbear always had and he was as silent as-  
The dog.  
Alas, for now it seemed to be his prison warden.  
 _Maybe eradicating it would even give him the chance to leave…  
_  
Finally, enough coins were together.  
The procedure was as easy as confusing- he bought the coin and it showed up in the corner on the screen, as always.   
Great.  
Now how would he use it in the office…?  
Pulling down the monitor, the suit was nowhere to be found, yet-  
 _A silver coin on his table.  
Huh.  
_Slowly he picked it up, letting it sit in his hand.  
It felt hot and every second he held it, it was getting worse and worse, to a point where Henry wondered if he was the one who would be disintegrated now. Dazed he watched the coin shine and glow, not really capable of lowering his hand and putting it down-  
 _It was as though he wasn’t in control of his own body anymore, as though he had accidentally left it in every way except the eyes, completely enraptured in the silver shimmer-  
_ Until he snapped out of it.  
Peeling off the coin from the palm of his hand, he looked at the brandmarked, crossed out D that was now visible within it.   
A chuckle broke out of his throat.  
Almost hysterical.   
_Friendship with Dave ended.  
Now murdering is my best friend.  
_God his head was a dizzy mess, even though ventilation was doing fine.   
A hat.   
On the table.  
Black.  
Reaching out, Henry put it on- it felt like the only right thing to do.   
Time to get this thing done.  
Pulling the monitor up and down, he waited for the bear to dare show his face-  
 _There he was._  
For a split second he looked into its tired, black eyes, filled with nothing, nothing that he would be able to recognize, then flipped the coin towards him.  
“ _Fetch_.”   
  
_To his surprise  
  
 **It did.  
**_  
Easily grabbing the coin out of the air.  
The creature stood up, shining golden-  
No, not _SHINING_.  
The- _the opposite.  
_ It seemed to consume the light around it, plunging everything into darkness, so that only the golden fur seemed to be there, a burning contrast to everything else-  
However, Henry couldn’t really make any judgement more than that, as he was abruptly picked up by the throat and screamed at, a scream that he had never heard a machine make before.  
Loud enough to shatter eardrums, primal enough to send cold fear through anyone’s spine and abnormal enough to _echo_ \- as though there was NOTHING around them, _nothing but tall, cold, smooth walls_ -  
As if nothing he saw was real-  
Abruptly he had been flung downwards, his head painfully colliding with the floor and dazing him for a moment, while the giant figure loomed over him, leaning down to him, finally speaking.  
Hoarse and deep, it sounded like a growl, yet it was barely more than a weak, jumbled whisper.  
 ** _“… THERE WAS MORE FANTASY AND FUN WHERE I CAME FROM…”_**   
Struggling to keep his mind together, Henry stared up into the glowing small dots above him.  
What-  
What was this creature?  
It was-  
Unfamiliar-  
Strange-  
 _“You are… not… from here-“_ Coughing, he tried to sit up, his arms feeling weirdly numb. “ _You are from- elsewhere. How. Who brought you here-“  
_ The voice was too adult- and it wasn’t the detective, the detective had been the only case of an adult human managing to remaining without any outside help- so, _WHO was this?!_  
And where did it come from?!  
Once more Fredbear picked him up, the body shaking with rage, grabbing him right by the head carelessly.  
 _“Say it- say what you are- where you are from- are you some sort of- angel!?”  
_ The creature paused, but it was hard to see what its- his- face looked like.  
 _“No, no, you are too far- away from god in this place- are you a demon?”_  
The grasp around his head instantly tightened, turning into blinding pain, enough to make him bite off the tip of his tongue in an attempt to suppress of any sort of noise.  
Blood, pain and numbness made his words less understandable, but his mind was buzzing loudly, filled with thoughts and concepts, that he wanted answers to, that he wanted to test, that he HAD to speak out-  
The only one in THIS suit, the only true Fredbear that had ever been around-  
“ _Are you- me_ -”   
From somewhere else?!  
Again there was a small pause-  
Then the bear growled once more.  
  
 ** _“YOU CAN GO AND REST NOW. I WILL ASSUME YOU HAVE BEEN CURIOUS, NOT MALICIOUS. IF YOU WILL TRY TO HARM ME AGAIN… IT WON’T BE SO QUICK.”_**   
  
As Henry faded, a child’s offended voice sounded.  
“ _What?! Goldie, that’s all?!”_   
  
When Henry woke up, he abruptly breathed in, a sense of panic shortly covering his mind, as for a second he thought he was underwater, _drowning_ -  
But as his eyes started to focus on the tv screen in front of him, the rest of his body managed to calm down too, enough that he could stand up, with shaky legs.  
The fear disappeared quickly, only confusion remaining.   
Nothing bad had happened.  
Or rather- nothing too bad.  
Turning he eyed the suit who was sitting on the couch, eyes empty- not shining anymore- and dirty once again… but this time radiating a sort of intense anger.  
For a moment Henry considered trying to pick up where they left off-  
… however, for now he didn’t feel quite… ready to risk that rage once more.  
His actions had been calm.   
But there was something, something that none of the five senses could perceive, regardless of how hard they tried, not together, not alone…  
… and it was warning him STRONGLY against approaching this being.  
Regardless of what it was- it surely wasn’t him, he wouldn’t do this to himself, he just hadn’t been thinking- it was not something that should be taken lightly.  
The threat had been real.   
And it seemed to at least partially capable to influence the world around him.  
  
 _Fall back, overthink.  
He would figure a way out to use this.   
Somehow_.   
  



	8. The Broadcast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> pokerrice said:
> 
> hi! this is a epilogue ask- do simon and mike ever get knick-knacks from all the places they visit? just to remember, maybe, since i know mike isn't really a fan of that stuff, according to the valentine's chapter lmao-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good, I sure wish I remembered ANYTHING I wrote, maybe then I could give a coherent answer. For now I guess I’ll just- try to make sense  
> Though hey, at least I have a very coherent thought about what they’re up to

(Good, I sure wish I remembered ANYTHING I wrote, maybe then I could give a coherent answer. For now I guess I’ll just- try to make sense  
Though hey, at least I have a very coherent thought about what they’re up to)  
  
  
  
No, Mike never had been a fan of knick-knacks.   
There was no point in gifts, even gifts that were attached to places, attached to memories.  
Frankly, there was only one sort of thing that truly could keep memories inside, in his opinion- hell and even then, it faded quickly.  
But that wouldn’t stop him from trying.  
  
Every new and exciting place they visited, they sat down, put up their make-shift radio station and started their spiel-  
Such a silly passion.   
But he loved it.  
Sending out words into the world…  
  
“MONSTERS AND MORTALS!”  
“It’s uh- it’s Monsters and Mazes-“   
“God don’t remind me of that stupid movie. _Don’t you fucking dare._ ”   
They both snickered a little, before moving back to the issue at hand. Dramatically Mike coughed, before getting back to the mic.   
“Alright, alright, fuck that, _anyways_ , welcome to The Broadcast, the broadcast without a name, because fuck me, I’m not putting any effort into this. We’re currently still heading up to Alaska, so nothing new has happened so far. Tough fucking luck for you guys!”  
“As always, in uh- in that case-“ Cheerful Simon grabbed behind him. “We are getting THE BAG.”   
“ ** _THE BAG, THE BAG!”_** Mike cheered.   
“Random topic baaaaaaaaaag… tell usssssssssss… the random toooooooooopic… _baaaaaaaaaaaag_ -“   
Reaching in, he rummaged around for a few moments, before finally settling on a piece of paper, pulling it out.  
“ _Todayyyyyyy’s toooooooooopiiiiiiiic iiiiiiiis_ -“   
“Simon, I will fucking END you if you don’t already tell-“   
“Great. BECAUSE TODAY’S TOPIC IS _ANGER_!”   
“Wait, fucking what?”   
“Uh- yes. Here. Take a look.”   
Mike snatched the paper out of his hands, taking a look and- true enough.  
Simon had broken character already, snickering, but in no way mean-spirited.  
“Anger, huh… well, uh- what can I say?”   
“ _You need to be angry more fucking often_.” Abruptly Mike stated. “I was working on my relationship with anger, but you never did on yours!”   
“Oh- it’s fine, it’s fine. I’m better off not angry.”   
“But you’re bottling it up and letting yourself be mistreated.” Once more the shorter of the two insisted. “You pulled the anger card, so we’re talking anger. You don’t get to just bother ME about this! You have anger issues too, even if kinda reversed.”   
“I never even TRIED to bother you, Mike!”  
“ _But you WANTED to. I saw it in your eyes, Si! **I KNOW YOUR DEEPEST, DARKEST SECRETS**_.”   
For a moment both looked at each other-  
Then they started laughing again.   
Getting more comfortable, Simon looked out of the windows of the van, looking at the stars that were shining clear out here, where no other light could pollute the shine of the dark sky.   
“I, uh- guess you ARE right. I do still need to get angry more often. But…” Playfully Simon nudged his lover. _“… that’s what I have you for, right_? I don’t need to get mad about anyone doing me wrong when YOU are always ready to go!”   
“What. Are you fucking saying I’m SPOILING you too much?! Keeping you from growing a pair?! Fuck off.”   
“I mean, it IS a fact.”   
“Shut up, I don’t even get THAT mad anymore.”   
“Only at motels.”   
“Motels are filled with run down, vengeful spirits, it’s not my fault.”   
“They are. EXCEPT the ones that were advertised being haunted-“  
“EXCEPT those. Yeah.” Mike also shifted now, his mind wandering. “One day one of these places will ACTUALLY be haunted and we’ll both hate it.”   
“At least we’ll be stuck together when facing an angry spirit. Honestly, uh- we’ve been doing that all day every day at Freddy’s.”   
It went quiet for a moment, Simon’s warm words not helping as much to relieve Mike’s restless mind.  
Mike took a deep breath.  
“… why is it always the anger that gets stuck down here? When you die, why don’t your good memories and feelings linger too?”   
“… perhaps because anger is… not really- it can’t get where the souls go. It doesn’t belong there. So it gets left behind and the person is free.” Somewhat he theorized. “Or maybe because anger is, uh- THAT powerful. After all, it can do crazy shit like heal you!”   
Suddenly, Mike snorted.  
“Oh god, I just realized- _who thought that ANGER carried any sort of healing power?!”_   
“Well…” Snickering a little, Simon played along. “It IS the emotion getting the blood pumping the easiest, right?”   
“Barbarian healer-“ Mike continued, before sitting up. “Wait, we gotta play some Dungeons and Dragons sometimes. We really do.”   
“With only us two? That’s not possible, right?”   
“Fair enough. Who knows! Maybe someone will hear this radio broadcast and want to join us.”   
“Uh, with all due respect, Mike, if there is ANYONE out there who has listened to these broadcasts and would want to join us… _that is NOT someone I want to meet_!”   
“Oh, so suddenly there IS something we can’t handle together?” Mike teased-  
Then he leaned forward, putting his hand onto Simon’s, gently kissing him.   
_“I love you.”  
“I love you too.”   
_For a moment both of them stayed calm like that, before Mike finally pulled back, grinning.  
“Anyways, everyone, this weeks number is- wait, what was the stolen phone’s number again?” Snatching it from the corner, he checked it- stolen directly from a store, so it was fresh and clean. “Ah right- it’s (REDACTED). Alright, one more time more slowly, in case anyone here wants to write it down… (R E D A C T E D). Give us a call! We’ll be on air for half an hour still, so- we’ll be playing music now, you have time to call!”   
Flipping a few switches, Mike put on the music, smiling to himself.   
Simon grabbed a bottle of water, to start drinking.  
“Uh- do you think- do you think anyone will ever call?”   
Shortly Mike paused, then shrugged.  
“Nah. But that’s okay. I’m recording these for myself anyways. It’s only the thought-“ Excited the former guard broke off, looking up. “… _it’s the thought that someone COULD hear us._ A little bit of our lives. _A little bit of our love_. That is beautiful to me. That’s something I would have wanted to hear when I was younger. This little thing show, between the actual radio channels, the small thing you don’t expect, but you still flip through the frequencies, looking for SOMETHING and then you suddenly FIND it- it would have meant the world to me.”   
  
Lovingly Simon reached out to grab his boyfriend, pulling him closer, holding him in his arms.  
They listened to the music playing for their imaginary audience, for the rest of the evening.   
After all- you should offer chance an open door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'know.  
> I only was thinking about how cool it would be to have your own illegal radio station.  
> And now I have to live with the fact that my characters have a fucking podcast.


	9. BonBon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thefoolishnoob said:
> 
> Bonbon...just bonbon. Just bonbon stuck to his hand. And he has to make a choice to put up with bonbon, or cut off his own hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Amazing idea that I cut short due to being so fucking tired and filled with writer’s anxiety to the MAX, smashing my head into the keyboard, but not wanting to keep abandoning the damn blog.  
> Hope this is still fine though!  
> I really need to cut back to shorter asks again, I should have considered that before making a “series” of this. At least it’s going to be done soon!

Sometimes, your brain tells you to do stupid things.   
TRULY stupid things.   
Henry certainly was no stranger to it, not at all.  
Though usually he had a little bit more… of a reputation what to uphold.  
‘What is the worst that could happen?’  
That was the standard question to consider, the one thing to maintain at the forefront, while also eying the potential benefits of the risks.   
What was the worst that could happen?  
Usually death.  
That has prevented Henry from doing quite a few nonsensical actions, ranging from petty theft of objects he never needed, to making himself a name as a Serial Killer.   
Nonsensical ideas, with no rewards, and potentially risky chain reactions that could lead to the destruction of his entire work. It was for the better that they had gotten buried in his mind again, Henry would have been even more upset with himself now, looking back on his life, otherwise.   
Yet, now?  
Nothing was stopping him from the worst.   
Death?  
Never heard of ‘em.  
If you only wake up again in the same place as you were before, death lost its biting edge, it became old news, hardly worth a second thought.   
_And this led to more and more bad ideas.  
_  
However, today’s bad decision had taken the cake.  
  
Henry had sat down behind the desk just a moment ago, the night barely even started.   
Only few animatronics were roaming, thus it wasn’t anything to pay too much attention to.  
Maybe a few interesting conversations would come out of it- but that was it.  
So, instead he began picking apart the office. It wasn’t the common one, it was made out of steel and darker than the regular one, instead there were blinking lights shining- pizzas made out of plastic and glass, stage lights to the sides, and the eyes of two animatronics that were- probably not capable of coming to life.   
_Probably_.  
A shiny mask of Funtime Freddy’s and-  
The Puppet.  
The OTHER Puppet.  
God, when was it that he had designed and planned out THIS robot?  
It must have been when-  
… never mind that.  
Prying his attention away from the frozen machine, peacefully smiling, with its eyes glowing golden-   
Prying his attention AWAY, he turned to the table, where the small handpuppet of Bonnie was sitting. The panel to the side, filled with buttons and levers, was also interesting, but he would look at that later. The little machine seemed like a great opportunity to inspect if the animatronics were actually still working as they should have in reality… or if perhaps they were only plastic shells, filled with only the intent of the soul that created this place.  
He wasn’t sure what it would tell him about the maker… however more information was always useful.  
It was a light machine, in general.  
Its weight would still surprise anyone who wasn’t familiar with machines, but all in all? A lightweight, nothing to note.  
Peering into the opening, the Pink Guy noted that it was unnaturally dark inside of there. Even if he held it directly under a light, there seemed to be a void inside, swallowing all light, making it almost impossible to see any mechanisms that were in place.  
 _And that was when the terrible idea hit him._  
Usually there were a few criteria that thoughts of his had to pass before being translated into an action, like ‘why’ and ‘how’ and ‘what if’- due to his currently freedom of basically anything, it swiftly skipped past these hurdles.  
Before he knew what he really was doing, he put the little bunny onto his hand-  
  
 _Where it instantly clicked shut, grabbing his arm tightly from the inside._  
  
The lights flickered wildly, before the lighting changed to the usual “caught” atmosphere-  
 _Quite alarming.  
_ Now, there were two options- either a creature has come in from the outside while he was disracted, or BonBon was about to maul him.  
Seeing as the machine started twitching and booting up, the latter one seemed more likely, so Henry watched the creature with mild interest. What a funny way to kill him. The vengeful soul was rather creative, he had to admit that much.   
The bunny looked from the left to the right-  
Then up at Henry, who stared down at him somewhat unimpressed.  
For a moment both sides stared at each other in silence, then BonBon crossed his arms.  
“Put me down.”   
“ _Oh, I_ _would if I could and in more sense than one_. But you seem to be grabbing me. _”_   
“Where is Freddy!?”   
“On the wall, as far as I can see.”   
Looking at the mask, the bunny frowned for a moment, then swiped its claw over Henry’s eye and cheek, only barely missing the eye itself.   
Deep red scars were left on the cheek, blood slowly starting to drip down from it, a disgusting feeling in the Pink Guy’s opinion.   
“NOT FUNNY!”   
“ _DO NOT ATTACK ME.”_   
“THEN STOP MESSING WITH ME! JUST BECAUSE I’M SMALL YOU THINK YOU CAN MESS WITH ME, HUH!?” Again he tried to attack, Henry only barely being able to hold him back. “I CAN EAT YOU. I CAN HURT YOU. AND I WILL IF YOU DON’T TELL ME WHERE MY FREDDY IS!”   
“ _I DO NOT KNOW.”_   
“THEN FIND OUT!”   
_“IF YOU STOP ATTEMPTING TO HARM ME, I MIGHT_.” Finally, Henry was able to let go of the bunny, it wasn’t trying to rip him into pieces anymore. God, that little rat was a little stronger than he liked. “Last time I saw Funtime Freddy- or at least a thing somewhat resembling him- he was in the vents. Thus, the choice- do you want to let go of me and inspect them, or do you want to stay here and search the other rooms first?”   
BonBon- Benjamin, right? He thought he could remember him being called Benjamin before- looked at him angrily again, then his ears dropped.  
“I- don’t- I can’t _! I don’t know how to_! I think YOU did something to make me unable to let go, this isn’t my fault!”   
Finally, the aggression that had started to build up inside of him subsided, as he recognized this behavior easily. Benjamin was still a child, probably has not been very old when taken and not having been dead for more than a year or two.   
Raising his other hand, he tried to calm the boy down.  
“Alright, alright… I did not do anything, but if neither of us can separate from the other, we might have to look together. Would that be okay with you, Benjamin?”   
Wrong thing to say.  
“Wh-Who told you my name?! _You don’t have a RIGHT to use my NAME-“_   
Something within Henry SNAPPED, the aggression returning, double as strong.   
“Please, CALM DOWN.”   
Finally, this seemed to shut him up. Perhaps it was the heightened aggression in his voice that helped- and while Henry didn’t enjoy trying to scare those weaker than him, this time it seemed to be necessary.   
This seemed to be the damn reason why that bear was borderline mad and always happy to throw this thing around.   
Looking at the little thing the man slowly shook his head, then took a deep breath.  
“ _Are you calm now, Bon? Good. Good. Amazing_.” His tone had changed now, much sharper and colder than before. If it worked, it worked. “ _Let us have a nice walk now. A nice, long walk, you and I, both of us, maybe we will find Freddy, maybe we will not. And you know what, while we have this walk, we could also have a nice long talk about you. What brought you here, specifically_.”   
“I- I don’t want to-“   
Abruptly Henry moved his right hand, where Bonbon was located, almost smashing it into the wall.   
“Oh. I seem to have slipped. How CLUMSY of me. What were you saying?”   
  
_It was a bluff.  
Of course it was.  
He wasn’t so pathetic as to try and harm a kid.  
But he also felt sick and tired of being in such a ridiculous situation.  
_  
For a moment Bonbon stared at him nervously, his jaw slightly tremble, as he was caught between wanting to try and live with the situation, in hopes of it not getting worse, or if he should lash out, here and now, trying to kill the human he was attached to.  
 _“Only a little walking and a little talking and maybe we will find Freddy too. Do you not want that?”_  
The easy way out.   
_Old habits die hard.  
Most people preferred the devil that they knew.   
Including returning to familiar situations again and again, reenacting them, even if it had hurt before. _  
The small machine pressed its ears against its body, clearly distress, but finally he nodded wordlessly, drawing a smile out of Henry, who was now more than willing to pretend he hadn’t very obviously threatened the kid before.  
“Fantastic! I am sure we will have a lot of fun. First and foremost, I would like to know, what is the last thing you remember from before waking up here…?”   
Maybe he would be able to make it up to the bunny a little while on the go.  
He did somewhat feel bad for him.   
  
They slipped outside the office.  
No animatronics in sight.  
 _And Henry for once was looking forward to a long night._


	10. Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WrittenInCinnamon:
> 
> Hey, uh, do you take request for any epilogue stuff or just Henry suffering? Because if the former, well, we never got to see Old Sport apologizing to the lost souls, and since now that's his job... could we get that? Sorry to bother ^^'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every kind of request is welcome! That is something I meant to write anyways, but I’m still really scared of it- it’s something very important, that HAS to sit just right.  
> I doubt I will manage, but hey, at least it’s out of my mind after this one.
> 
> OH AND I JUST REALIZED YOU’RE RIGHT ABOUT THE “we never saw”- FUCK  
> FUCK FUCK FUCK  
> THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE FINALE  
> I knew I forgot SOMETHING, I thought I had it all written down, but I DIDN’T.  
> Urgh, no point in crying over spilled milk I guess, but have my apologies, I know that you especially were looking forward to it ;n;
> 
> Now I’m lowkey stuck between a rock and a hard place- either I make this into a proper epilogue thing, in which technically shouldn’t be able to apologize- or I go back and make this as a fix-it/rewrite scene from within the action.  
> I think I’ll try to make it an epilogue and bullshit my way into Old Sport being able to apologize. Bear with me.

Forgiveness isn’t something you can work towards as a single person.  
It wasn’t like they hadn’t known that when they made their way to the first few restaurants, but it still always left a little crack behind in their optimism.   
Of course, there was nothing they could do about it.   
Freeing souls was actually a terribly ungrateful job, something that surprised Dave.   
Sure, Old Sport had warned him beforehand, but still.  
 _It stung._  
Not that Dave wasn’t on some level aware that he’s the one everyone’s anger was targeted at- for good reason, he had created this scenario in the first place- but a selfish part of him despised the kids for not playing along right away.   
Henry had told him back in the day that he needed to get a grip on his desire for instant satisfaction- and he was right. As much as Dave hated to think about it, he was right.  
There were things he easily lost patience with.  
 _Hell, he had pressured Old Sport far, far more than he should have._  
A sudden surge of stubbornness settled into his chest.   
_It was FINE, it worked great with Old Sport.  
He didn’t do anything wrong.  
He DIDN’T.   
_He’d do it again!  
…   
… that wasn’t the right attitude for a man on the road of redemption, but he couldn’t really help it yet.  
Deep down he hoped the attitude change would come with habit.  
There was no way he could get around to it on his own.  
Old Sport was… doing okay, all things considered.  
Being almost ripped out of your own body, because you resembled your worst enemy more than your former self was pretty- terrifying.  
So nowadays, he was… quiet.  
A little car chase always managed to rip him out of his thoughtful moments, returning the grin to the place it rightfully belonged, covering most of the Orange Guy’s face- but it was only moments, minutes, not long enough, not nearly long enough to satisfy him.   
Or at least calm him.   
Old Sport knew that too.  
When he glanced over at his friend- his partner, _his lover_ , all these words that almost seemed to make no sense, _they felt like weren’t supposed to be applied to HIM, him the soulless guy shambling from place to place-  
_ When he glanced at Dave, he saw the tension radiating off him like a swarm of bees.   
Even in his smile, it was clear, he wasn’t outright happy, he was-   
Like a bow, tightly strung, ready to escalate.  
There was nowhere left where he truly could let out his chaotic desires, as each Freddy’s they walked into was another mission that had to be done perfectly, like clockwork.  
 _Cheesy words, little theatrics, the same patterns over and over and over and over and over-_  
It was what had driven Old Sport over the edge the first time.  
 _It wouldn’t happen again though._  
Maybe they should go to Vegas.  
However, he didn’t really want to let Dave loose anymore. Not now that their actions felt so… intertwined. Whatever Dave did, he felt responsible for, thus he tried to keep him in check.  
And now…  
 _… now he almost felt scared of Dave, from time to time.  
_ Now that he was trying to take the lead.  
It- wasn’t right. No, no. Fear, fear implied HE was the one afraid. This was different.   
Worry.   
He was worried for Dave and he worried for the world around him.  
But that was the price he paid for being moral and wanting things to work out for everyone.  
 _It felt a bit dirty, just picking up a morality, not due to experience and inner passion for these things, instead only because morals came as a set.  
_ Really, he still wasn’t a whole person.  
… at least he was working on it.  
“What’s wrong with ya, Sportsy?” Dave stretched his neck out towards him, drawing a smile out of the Orange Guy. Somehow seeing Dave becoming all- noodly- always brightened his day.  
“Nothing! Nothing. I was just thinking about the next place… apparently the Freddy’s burned down, but the animatronics are still in the area?”   
“Is that what the bear told ya?”   
“Yes. Which means setting up the party and getting them to stumble over it will be more dangerous than usually… we’ll have to lure them there. We miggt have to walk through the town while wearing the suit!”  
“Sounds like fun!”   
Slightly Old Sport smiled.   
This was something Dave still was great at.  
“… if you say so _. You’re the only one who thinks of waltzing around in sweaty suits, while potentially being chased by dog as ‘fun’_.”   
“Yeah, right- I’m just the only one of us who can admit it! _That’s ‘cause ya can’t admit to your feelings, Sportsy! It took ya YEARS, DECADES to finally give into your BURNING DESIRE FOR ME-“  
_ “Sh-shut up! Don’t be weird!”   
His cheeks were reddening as Dave laughed.   
This was the one way his constantly building up tension melted away.  
If he didn’t think for a few moments, the world seemed okay.   
“Welp, either way-“ The Purple Guy continued, pulling the car to the side. “- we’re at the destination. This is the burned down place. Wait- doesn’t burnin’ them usually free ‘em anyways? Ya know. If all stops have to come out?”   
“True. There are only two souls around, the one inside of Freddy and the one inside of Chica. The rest was freed by the fire.”   
“So, we’re dealin’ with two REALLY nasty bastard kids?”   
“You shouldn’t say that _. That aside: yes, you’re right on the money_.”   
“Urgh, those are the worst. _Can’t we just break them and burn the pieces?”_   
“ _No_.”   
“I knew you’d say that Old Sport. Yet I’m STILL disappointed.”   
He sighed, as he parked to the side.   
Getting suited up as soon as they could, they looked around the forest area, the lights of the town far in the back, but still very much visible.  
No taking roads, yards were fine, forest first though.  
“… alright, this will take time.” Old Sport looked over the wrecks. “Good we have plenty of things to set up a little party anyways. Dave?”   
“Yessir?”   
“You go out and try to find them while I set up. We can’t really afford wasting too much time, especially if they might be genuinely vengeful.”   
“Splittin’ up? First mistake in the horror genre, tsk, tsk-“   
“Sure, because either of us is at such a risk of ACTUALLY DYING. _EVER_.” He waved his hand at him. “At least stake the place out. So we know which places are easier to cross while seeking. And how much we roughly have to look over.”   
“Fiiiiiiine.”   
Clearly not pleased, but accepting of his role, Dave walked past him-  
Just to abruptly and grab Old Sport by the mask, pulling him close into a pretend-kiss, which was somehow even more flustering than an actual kiss.  
“DAVE!”   
“ _C’mon, somehow I gotta motivate myself, right?”_ Happy as can be, he nuzzled his snout against Old Sport’s, before letting go and skipping away. “Be back soon! Don’t cut any cake without me!”   
When he was gone, Old Sport slowly sighed.  
“ _He… won’t hurt anyone_.”   
The suit echoed.  
‘He won’t. As long as you won’t.’  
Old Sport winced at the familiar voice- it was soft, caring, and so, so sad.  
“Fredbear-“   
‘The birthday, Old Sport. Birthday first.’  
Nodding to himself, defeated, he pulled out the tools from within the car.   
Candles, banners, lights, plates and hats, a music player…   
… they were prepared to create a party out of nothing, out of a charred place of dirt, if they had to.  
Thankfully the walls were at least still mostly preserved.  
  
Ashes to ashes.  
Places like this reminded him of…  
  
“… I never apologized, Fredbear.”   
‘That is true.’  
“They were gone. I knew what Mike did, I just- couldn’t- I couldn’t face the Toys anymore. _I didn’t even know their names. Mike knew their names, right?_ ”   
‘He did.’  
“I can’t ask Mike. _I can’t ask him for the names_.” The words stumbled out of him.  
Fredbear tended to join him every time that they were setting up, not in his true form right away, but as a presence within the suit Old Sport had to wear. It was reassuring in some regard-   
But at the same time, the memories he brought Old Sport were suffocating.  
‘You could.’  
Old Sport wanted to scream, his busy hands still setting up, regardless of the conversation.  
“Yes. Yes I could. _And I could kill Dave. And I could jump from a high building to try out to fly. And I could adopt twenty cats. And I could hijack a train. And I could- what is there I couldn’t do!?_ But I don’t want to, because I’m not dumb, I KNOW it’s wrong, I know it’s terrible, I know-“ Shortly he paused to take a breath. “There’s so much I could be, _and_ _nothing that I **am**_ , but I WANT to be something now. So I can’t.”   
For a moment it was silent, Fredbear not saying the many things he could have.  
 _Yet somehow, it felt as though he could still hear them.  
_ Spiteful whispers, stuck in the suit, banished from this place, but remaining as echoes.   
Nothing ever truly disappeared.   
He had stained the suit, and the suit had been stained by the one wearing it before him. Blood remained with any object, no matter how well you cleansed it.  
 _“… I need to apologize to them_.”   
‘So you can forget?’  
His mind knew that Fredbear would never say something like this with spite, but it still cut him deep.  
“… so I can… know I did something right.”   
‘We never can right our wrongs.’  
“Since when did you become so cynical!?”  
‘It is not cynical. There just are wrongs we cannot turn back the time on. Well- perhaps the dog could have, he never wanted to however _. I have blood on my paws from making you, trusting a creature that never was a human… and I have damned a man to hell_. _And not even when I should have, only when it was too late.’  
_ Finally, this managed to shut Old Sport up for good.  
 _Don’t look so hurt, other people have problems too._  
Except he didn’t have any problems. No, he was fine. It didn’t keep him awake at night _. It didn’t bother him_. Just the knowledge that there was something on his checklist to reach a goal he set himself, something that he would never be able to cross off, it irked him.   
_Petty_.  
A hint of sadness took ahold of him.  
“… how old are you, Fredbear? Or- were you, when you-“   
‘I lived many lives, those that joined me. Many more than I wanted to count. I feel so old, I cannot remember. And everyone I carry with me is so different too.’  
“Alright then.”   
They were busy enough anyhow, trying to make the place look like new, like a place to feel happy at, to play and not to think about anything-  
Making it up.   
Celebrating the birthday they never had.   
Making a lie into a truth, a lure into a genuine gesture.  
 _Follow me._  
Old Sport did it once- now he played the part of Henry in the freeing missions. It was important to follow the old pattern, to overwrite it.   
Who would be doing the luring?  
Who would be cutting the cake?  
What games would they play?  
Fredbear kept quiet about it until they knew exactly where to go and all other preparations had been done.  
One thing at a time, he always said.  
“ _Fredbear_?”   
Old Sport quietly asked.   
‘Yes?’  
“… can I _\- can I apologize to you?_ In their place I mean. Apologize to you like I would to them- just so- I have it out. And if you think it’s any good, then maybe you can tell them what I said.”   
‘… it’s alright. We can do that.’  
Understanding warmth- yet it didn’t feel like it was meant for him.  
He couldn’t accept it.  
At least this was something he was looking forward to- now he only had to figure out the right words to say.   
Lost in thought, he didn’t even realize how fast the time passed, until-  
“OLD SPORT!”   
Yelping the Orange Guy jumped, thankfully not triggering any springlocks.   
“DAVE! God- don’t- DO that!”   
Sheepishly the Purple Guy in the bunny suit tilted his head. “Sorry! Sorry Sportsy, really am, but I have- good news and bad news.”   
“Bad news?”   
“Ain’t nothing ya can do here.” Instantly turning more serious, Dave shook his head. “These are mine and mine alone. I guess I was really… passionate about the whole shutting down Freddy’s stuff. I lured them on my own. You can’t even be nearby.”   
His voice was so different. So much smoother, more clinical.   
It was nice and yet it wasn’t.  
Old Sport nodded.  
“… good news?”   
Perking up, back to his usual self, he pointed into the woods. “I know where they are! And I know how to lure ‘em, seein’ as they fuckin’ hate each other!”   
“… _so two lost souls hate each other and you see that as a win?”_   
“Yeah! It’ll be great! I can tell ‘em to meet here to fight and then- oh.” He scratched his fake ear. “… actually, now that ya say it, it might be a bit more of a hassle.” His expression turned pleading. “ _Spoooortsyyyyyy…? Ya always have such good ideas, so…?”_   
“Depends on why they hate each other. Why are they fighting?” _The pressure was on!_ “Uhm. How about you do actually send them here to fight, for one last time. Tell them that you’ll solve the fight once and for all. I think it will be the truth.”   
“Great!”   
“But Dave- remember- they might be fighting about who is at fault for their death. You… sure you want to get between that?”   
“Eh. It’s fine. If they’re upset about that, then it’ll be even easier to get them to calm down. Ain’t nobody’s fault they died but mine!”   
A hint of envy stung through Old Sport’s chest.  
“… you… really don’t mind, do you?”   
“Nah. It’s fine.” Curiously Dave looked at him. “They’ll give me a good beatin’, then they’ll be on their merry way. I dealt with worse pain before!”   
“That’s… _not what I meant.”_   
He said to much, and turning away didn’t help-   
Within a second, Dave’s hands were on him, as he pulled his orange lover closer, petting over the back of his head, a gesture he could feel even through the layer of metal and fur.  
“… did Fredbear bully you again? You should take the suit off.”   
“ _He never bullied me_.”   
“He’s telling you stuff that upsets you! Over and over again!” Upset Dave scoffed. “Sounds like mistreatment to me! I’m telling you, if he gets too much, we’ll just get rid of him. We’ll figure the saving souls stuff out ourselves!”  
“I KNOW you would get rid of him.” That was exactly why he didn’t talk about it.   
“See? You know you can count on me!”   
For a moment Old Sport remained tense- then he slowly melted into the hug, trying to relax.  
“… I’m- _Fredbear really didn’t do anything_. I’m taking the suit off in a bit, when I’m sure he has nothing more to say- but it’s not the problem anyways.” He sighed, to himself. “You shrug it off so easily. I want to do it too. Or- I would want to, if I weren’t-“   
It was hard to put it into words with Dave, who never really saw the world how he did.   
Once more he attempted.  
“If I’d do the thing I’d do, I would become worse for it. Worse and worse. I would do more bad things. So I’m- worried about messing up. I worry that if I start shrugging it off, I’ll never care in the first place.”   
It was obvious Dave frowned, even with the mask.  
 _“… I- don’t get it._ Gotta be honest with you, Sportsy. Why do you think if you don’t make yourself feel a certain way, you’ll feel the exact opposite way? You’re yourself and do what you think feels right. Why would one bad thing lead to another? Unless you wanted to do all these bad things anyways? _You don’t have to pretend with me.”  
_ “I… _guess_. But we made a deal. We’re freeing them. What happens after that…” Stumbling over his words Old Sport tried to gather himself. “ _I want to be someone. Someone better than who I am_.”   
“… but if you want to be someone you deem good, it means you by yourself think that person is good. You, for yourself, have decided you like these traits. So if you want to be someone, then only because you can recognize what’s in them from something that’s within you.”   
_“Dave, you’re scaring me when you’re this serious.”_  
The big, moon-like eyes inside of the suit slimmed down to match a cheeky grin.   
“Ya can say that Old Sport, and I can dumb myself down for ya! Stop worryin’, _dunce_ , leave all of that to me. I’ll be able to reel ya in if ya ever go off the rails!”   
Raising an eyebrow, the Orange Guy looked at him. “… you kill people for fun and profit.”   
“Yeah, but that ain’t a BIG deal, right? _I can let ya stay home while I do it.”_ Playfully Dave responded, before turning away. “You need to have some more faith in me Old Sport… and for now, nothin’ of this matters! Let’s free some souls! Or rather, let ME free some souls, while ya have a nice evening. Watch some stars! Is everything ready for the party?”   
“All is set up!”   
“Fantastic, _that’s why I love ya, Old Sport!”_   
Instantly flustered, the Old Sport made a movement at him.  
“ _Quit saying that at EVERY opportunity!”_  
“What?! Why?! I just say it when it’s true! Like when you laugh, when you make breakfast, when you burn breakfast, when you talk to me on the road, when you-“   
“ _DAVE. EYES ON THE PRICE.”_   
_“You’re the only price I-“_   
“ ** _D A V E.”_**   
“Fine, fine, be the killjoy. _That’s why I lov-“_  
“GET GOING. THE NIGHT ISN’T FOREVER.”   
“Sure, sure!”   
Waving at him and still laughing, Dave made his way down the hill, leaving the bear-suited guy inside of the ruin that was covered in glitter and lights.   
  
He had taken off the suit.  
Stargazing for now.  
  
Music came from the ruins of the old Freddy’s, music and light, glimpses of another world.   
It radiated outside in waves, catching up even the place where he and Fredbear sat.   
Soon enough he would change his form, leaving to join the two spirits. At least so far there wasn’t any screaming or crying, or fighting- it means whatever Dave had said to them or done with them worked out.  
Old Sport wished he could have joined them. Maybe he wouldn’t be caught up in all these thoughts still.  
“… Fredbear? _Do you think what Dave said was right?_ ”   
It was silent for a moment.  
Then the bear suit shifted a little, seeming more energized in presence of the party.  
‘… no. But he is not entirely wrong either. Being good does not come naturally… and neither does being bad.’  
Once more, quiet.  
The stars seemed a little bit closer than usually.  
“Fredbear. I want… I think I can say my apology now.”   
Wind breezed through the trees around them, sounding like whisper.  
Maybe mocking him?  
But all of a sudden, he felt a deep calm.  
Maybe mocking. Maybe expecting.   
No matter what, he would say what he needed to.  
‘Go ahead.’  
There was no soul to reach into, but his heart was still beating, still working, still doing its jobs.  
The heart could be wrong and harmful and petty. Perhaps even evil.  
It was better than nothing however, it was the one thing he had in contrast to Henry.  
“I… wanted to apologize.”  
He started.   
His voice quiet.   
“… and it won’t be a good apology, because what I want to apologize for isn’t something that… you CAN apologize for.   
I’ve been trying to find the right words for a while now, but there aren’t any.   
At least though, I can offer you a why.   
Why I did what I did. Something so wrong and cruel.   
I… did it, _because it didn’t feel real._ And that is abhorrent, I know exactly why, because now it is real, what I did was real, IS real, what I did to five real kids, who had their own lives, that I just TOOK away. _It’s not fair, I shouldn’t have been able to do that.  
_ It’s insane to think that I could have done so, that the universe let me do it.   
God, I wish I could do something to make it up for you. That I somehow could replace everything I took.   
Yet, I can’t. I can’t even ask you what I could offer you.  
 _I’d let you borrow my body, wear me like a skinsuit, I’d bring you things that remind you of better times, more peaceful times, something that makes all the hurt go away for a few moments._  
This apology is one of the few things I can do for you, something I wanted to do for you for a while.   
_I wanted to be there for the party.  
But I know I shouldn’t have, so I didn’t._   
… carried around these words and feelings with me for a while.  
I hope that wherever you are- knowing that I’m paying for what I did, every day a little. There’s justice in this world, even if it looks weird and doesn’t come around right away.”   
For a moment he paused, staring at the shining stars, that didn’t seem to care.  
 _“… I wish… I wish you all have forgotten me already. That would be right._   
Yes, I hope wherever you are, you don’t even remember the day. I hope you’re having fun and that you are free, that everything is just right, that I’m a nobody now and will stay that way forever- that you only remember those who were kind to you and made your life better.  
I hope you’re happy and I’m inconsequential.  
And I will keep paying and giving my best.   
So that you leave in your wake only good things.”  
His head hurt.  
This hasn’t been a good apology- but it was all out there now.  
He said what felt right to say.   
He said the things that he wished that they knew, deep down, even if he wasn’t the one saying it to them.  
Next to him, the real Fredbear stood up, shaking his golden fur, before putting one of his paws onto Old Sport’s shoulder.  
“THE PARTY NEEDS ME NOW. I WILL GET GOING.”   
“… yeah. Thank you Fredbear. Bring the kids somewhere nice, will you?”   
“I WILL.”   
With that the bear trotted off-  
Leaving Old Sport to gaze at the stars.  
  
At some point, someone sat down beside him.  
Then someone else.  
Then another one joined in.  
And a last.   
  
They didn’t forgive him.  
This was not something you could forgive.  
  
But they sat with him until the dawn broke, sun touching the grass, coloring it orange.


	11. Tricking and Treating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous said:
> 
> Maybe Molten Freddy, Nightmare Bonnie, Old Man Consequences and Nightmare Balloon Boy for the challenge?

“Challenge? What challenge?”   
Henry scoffed.  
“The only problem I see in this line-up is the Balloon Demon and even then- the others are hardly a factor, I will be able to focus on him.”   
Brazen words from the Pink Man, let’s see how well he actually fares.  
  
The night started like always, albeit with the difference of Nightmare Balloon Boy waltzing right in, giving him a toothy grin.  
“MY MY LOOK AT WHO WE HAVE HERE. WHAT AN ODDLY SHAPED TOOTHPICK YOU ARE.”   
“There is value to oddity, novelty has its place in the universe… _but your disgusting mug does not_. How MADE you?”   
“THE ONE AND ONLY! MADE BY DAVEY, TO IMPRESS HIS LOVER!”   
At that Henry made a noise of disgust.  
“Dave has no loved ones. _He has objects of obsession that he strips of all choice. I suppose he is lucky that this time around he picked someone who was used to being merely a tool for those around him.”_   
“SOMEONE SOUNDS BITTER!”   
_“Oh, you wish.”_   
The creature laughed while Henry pulled up the screen in order to start gathering the tokens he would need to calm the nightmarish bunny.   
At least that one he made himself.  
God, he would kill himself for good measure if this stupid bloated oversized garden gnome caused his death.   
But he was focusing and unless the terrible Dee Dee would pop up and ruin his night, this should be just fine.   
The bear was too manic, unable to control the laughter bubbling up inside of him whenever he saw the helpless human being stuck to his chair in the office- thus it was a joke to force him to stay outside.  
Leaving two problems, the nightmare and the old man.   
It was fine, it was fine.  
Scanning each and every screen on the cameras, he began gathering the money he would need for that plushy. Twenty tokens was basically nothing in theory, but it was hard to earn those by simply picking them up in random rooms.   
Clicking around, he could basically feel the gnome stare at him, drooling-  
But… he didn’t attack.  
That was worth the test.  
“For someone who claims to be so eager about using me as a toothpick, you seem rather hesitant.” Pulling down the screen, he looked the creature into the eye, before flashing him, causing him to step back once more. _“You have to wait for me to mess up, if you like it or not.”_  
“THE WORLD IS QUITE UNFAIR, AIN’T IT?”   
“The old man can take over my screen, whenever he pleases, the bear can arrive at the door whenever he sees fit- but you have to wait for me to pull the screen down, see you and then pull it back up. You have to give me a chance.”   
With that the Pink Guy pulled the screen back up, absent-mindedly pushing down the button on the door again as he heard laughter.  
“Hua-ahhahahahhaa- H-HENRYYYYYYY- h-hey! Y-you PARTY POOPER!”   
The sound of teeth grinding against teeth were audible, as the present Nightmare struggled to hide his frustration.  
“YOU REALLY SHOULD STOP YOUR TAUNTING, MORSEL.”   
“Or what? Or you kill me? Because as far as I am concerned, you are planning on doing that either way. I think I will continue doing what makes me feel the most comfortable with you inside MY office.”   
“IF YOU BODY IS AS TOUGH AS YOUR EGO, I’LL HAVE TO CHEW ON YOU FOR DAYS! THAT WILL BE FUNNY!”   
Pulling down the screen, Henry flashed the standing machine once more.  
“If you manage to catch me, that is. For now though it seems unlikely… it seems that whoever made this place likes me more than you.”   
“NO!”   
“No? Are you sure? Because he seems to be giving me all the benefits in this place and you none of them.” And that was when he went for his final bluff. _“… after all, he is merely watching and not even joining you and the other in attacking me.”  
_ “THAT- THAT IS BECAUSE-“   
“So he IS here.”   
That was all the conformation he had needed.   
The being was here, it was paying close attention, and it chose not to do harm.  
 _… it was frustrating._  
While it gave him a certain level of power over everything, something he could appreciate, yet it made him feel terribly humiliated. Yes, he was entertainment, that far was obvious by the creatures breaking the bound of the universe to provide messages from beyond… but it was even more egregious that this time it was someone from his own timeline.   
‘The one you shouldn’t have killed’.  
What a title.   
Telling him a lot and yet nothing at all.  
Despite wanting to, Henry never had much contact to those he had been killing- a sad happenstance, truly, but nothing he could change about it now.   
Nobody he had paid attention to.   
No adult, no child.   
Yet there was a being so upset at having been murdered, that it-  
No, not upset.  
The anger was…   
There was violence, but anger?  
The plastic nightmare had kept his mouth shut so far, obviously aware that he talked too much.   
Henry’s attention slightly shifted over, to- the same topic, really. But different. “… this place is quite peculiar. You belong here, that is for sure. You follow the rules, of this… game. But the old man? The suit? I cannot fathom where they came from. _What they are_.”   
Finally, he could afford the plush.  
Not that Nightmare Bonnie even had shown itself.  
A little blue bunny took place on the table in front of him, being at least more sightly than Nightmare Balloon Boy.  
“Finally, a likeable companion in this office.”   
The machine on the other side gave off a hoarse laughter- kept quiet though, stubbornly.  
  
Henry glanced at the clock, then checked the vents, locking out the Funtime Machine one more time.  
Red light covered his face as the little fishing game flashed up, gone within a moment again.  
No more problems were in his way.  
Not in this night.  
Before he knew it, his fingers were tapping on the table again, as his thoughts running wild.  
Questions, questions, questions.  
For now he would have to pull information out of the cracks and corners of this thrown together pocket dimension.   
Test out the limits.  
  
And for that he would have to face them all out at once.  
Beating these machines was slowly becoming his second nature.  
 _It was only a matter of time._


	12. Frozen Birds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry gets told a story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a drabble actually based on the Henry in hell stuff, something I was very keen on writing  
> Now that the end quickly approaches…  
> The end of the year, the end of the series (on tumblr, the Ao3 thing will stay active, just super slowed) and the start over.  
> All of it at once, feels weird.  
> Hope you enjoyed the little something we did on here! ^D^  
> OH. BY THE WAY. I HAVE MORE EPILOGUE ASKS THAT I WILL PUBLISH, MAINLY ABOUT MIKE/SIMON. They’ll be put on tumblr after the event is over, but if you wanna see anything more than that, I’d put it into the comment section of the Ao3 thing! You don’t even need an account to comment.  
> Also, I’ll very slowly put up the things for today, because celebrating is going on.  
> That all aside, enjoy me overthinking Mr. Hippo.

Mr. Hippo was always a bit of a wild card.   
And by that Henry meant he was easy to forget and the radius of noise, which would keep him at bay, was almost impossible to predict. Before he knew it, the hippo slipped out of the grasp of the music- or whatever it was playing- and into the office.  
Henry didn’t mind being killed by him however.   
He gave him a big bite and let him slowly bleed out while telling a story, that was almost comfortable in a twisted way.  
Somehow Mr. Hippo reminded him of an old teacher he had- a goofy man with no sense of style and easily distracted.  
Good to train pick-pocketing on…   
_… and he always gave everything he took back to him._  
Now he was sitting there, sighing, feeling his hot blood slowly sicker out of him, drying and becoming sticky as he had turned his attention to the animatronic.  
He wondered what nonsensical story he would tell today.   
Of course, as promised after the last story, he had stopped looking for a meaning or a point- it was far more like someone telling you a bedtime story.   
As his eyes slowly grew tired…  
  
“Well…” The Hippo sighed as he looked at the bleeding man, who looked back up at him in turn. “…it seems that your journey has ended.”  
Slightly Henry smiled, knowing as good as Hippo that the end wasn’t ever the end.   
Still, the machine insistent on being somewhat apologetic every time.   
“Very sorry about that, it was-it always was going to end this way, of course. If it weren't by me, it would've just been by some other, y'know, terrible thing, just, you could not imagine how terrible it would be. Just, I get scared thinking about it. Glad it's not me.”  
Suppressing a scoff, the Pink Guy let the purple hippo ramble on.  
A story was coming, he didn’t have to rush for it, complaining only lead to more time being wasted before they got to the good, senseless part.  
For a moment longer Hippo stopped, seemingly thinking-  
Then something… unusual… flickered in his eyes, peaking Henry’s curiosity.   
But- he would let the story play out.   
“… it reminds me of a-of a time I was speaking to my good friend Orville.   
We were-we were sitting on a park bench watching the pigeons. I was on the left, he was on the- wait, wait. Was I on the right? Or left? Anyways, doesn't matter. We were sitting on there watching the pigeons.   
And uh, I-I said to Orville, ‘Friend, those birds are frozen.’”  
Something within Henry suddenly woke up.   
_Something- feral.  
Cold._  
He shifted uncomfortable, unsure of where this story was going.   
The storyteller didn’t seem to realize the steer in his audience, however.   
“A-and he kinda looked at me like I'd lost my mind, but I reminded him that it was winter, y'know, and often birds will sit in a tree until they freeze, then they, they you know, sorta fall to the ground. Until the sun warms them up, a-and they can, y'know, move around again.”  
The hippo sighed and Henry relaxed again at the good news.  
Of course- in real life they didn’t, but Mr. Hippo said the birds he knew, they froze and then they moved again when the sun came-  
 _It was fine._  
More interested he tilted his head as the hippo spoke up again.   
“So I said to Orville, you'd might as well save those breadcrumbs until the birds thaw, because they can't very well enjoy them in the condition they're in.   
To which he asked what I meant, and asking what condition the crumbs should be in before he threw them to the birds, assuming that I meant the birds couldn't enjoy-the breadcrumbs in the condition that the crumbs were in, when in-fact, I had meant the birds could not enjoy them in the condition that the birds were in, considering that the birds were frozen, you know.   
So he took a moment and then threw his last handful onto the ground. I said to him; ‘Orville, why did you throw the breadcrumbs to the birds when I just told ya' they're frozen?’   
To which he responded; ‘The breadcrumbs are not frozen.’  
Again, misunderstanding my words. I didn't mean to say that the breadcrumbs were frozen, when I said ‘I told ya they're frozen’ I'd been referring to the birds.”  
At that Henry chuckled a bit.  
Yes, trying to do something good for those who couldn’t appreciate it-   
He knew about that.  
Even when he knew he wasn’t supposed to look for meaning in the story, he couldn’t help but do so, it was the way he related to stories. _By relating them to himself._   
It was better to let them be frozen, until everything was ready.   
_It had been better to keep them stored away, frozen, waiting for the spring._   
Just after that thought, Mr. Hippo continued-  
And suddenly something felt very wrong.  
 _Suddenly Henry felt ill._   
Memory and the story seemed to start swirling, the blood loss was getting to him-   
“You know, in hindsight, what I-what I should've said was, and this would make perfect sense: ‘Why did you throw the breadcrumbs to the birds when the birds are frozen?’   
He misunderstood upon my correction stating that, he didn't know what else to do with the breadcrumbs and, that, perhaps you know, when the birds thawed they'd still be able to eat the crumbs, so I-I-I said to Orville-  
I said, this is what I said to him-   
I said…  
  
  
 _‘Orville, the birds may be dead.’”_  
  
  
It was completely silent for a second.  
Something shot through Henry so old, cold and violent, an anger so sudden, so hateful and frenzied, for a second his body’s condition was completely irrelevant.  
He jumped up and towards the machine, ready to tear it apart with his hand.  
His skin felt like it was melting, his brain was splitting and he _HOWLED_ -  
  
 ** _“THEY WERE FROZEN! THEY WERE FROZEN! IT’S NOT THE SAME AS DEAD! THEY WEREN’T DEAD, THEY WERE FINE, THEY WERE FINE, THEY WERE FINE-  
  
YOU FUCKING BASTARD, YOU ABHORRENT WASTE OF METAL AND FUR-  
HOW DARE YOU, HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT?!  
YOU KNOW IT IS UNTRUE!  
  
THEY WOULD HAVE THAWED, THEY WOULD HAVE THAWED IN THE SUMMER, WHEN EVERYTHING WAS READY, THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN FINE, THEY WERE FROZEN, THEY WERE FROZEN-  
  
THEY NEVER WERE DEAD!“  
  
_**Out of nowhere the golden suit was there, grabbing him, pulling him backwards as his mind faded, not even able to listen to the words coming out of his mouth-  
Everything was spinning-  
Goldie brought him away, as everything faded to black.  
  
  
Concerned Mr. Hippo adjusted his tie, having gotten a good scare when the usually the polite man suddenly overreacting so much.   
“My… uh… he seems to really like birds. Our friend I mean. That story must have upset him.”   
The kid that had stepped beside him, pretending to balance on a line on the ground, as though he was on a thin rope billions of miles over the ground just shrugged.   
  
_“The only birds he likes are the one he has caged.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'know what, I actually want to apologize for getting all metaphorical.   
> But hey, I like to have fun too!


	13. Cutting the cord

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous said:
> 
> For the Henry in Hell- maybe N. Balloon Boy, Rockstar Foxy, Scraptrap, and maybe Dave (since Henry wants to talk more with him)?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I’m way too fucking tired to make these, but dear god, it’s five AM and I WILL fucking get the Henry in Hell stuff done  
> NOT READ THIS OVER  
> I’LL REGRET THIS AFTER HAVING HAD A NAP. BUT FOR NOW?  
> KICK MY ASS AND CALL ME A CANDY CANE.  
> I’M NOT WASTING MORE TIME.  
> ENJOY.

Does he want to talk to Dave?  
It’s difficult to say.   
He wants answers. And Dave seems like the weakest link in the chain.  
  
There seemed to be certain beings that influenced how the nights played out.  
For now, he knew of three for a fact.  
Most obvious, DeeDee.   
Henry was considering that perhaps she was connceted to the old man- there was a keen smell of lake water whenever she appeared. At first he hadn’t noticed, but now he couldn’t miss it, no matter how badly his anger flared up when he saw her suddenly jump out from beneath the table, or some sort of black hole of _vile darkness, where all the annoying thing festered and cross-bred to create worse and worse-  
_ He took a deep breath.  
 _Stay calm._  
… yes, the lake. The lake brought him here, it must have some sort of importance.  
Being capable of changing the rule of the night… that seemed to be within the lakes domain.  
Then there was the suit.   
Of course the suit was special. Remaining behind after the night, during the downtime. Sometimes Helpy and Rockstar Freddy appeared to give advice and little prices ‘for the trouble’, but they never remained for long.  
Also, both of them were bears.   
Like the suit.  
He hadn’t yet found a way to make the suit react to any sort of input from his side, thus testing him and the changes he caused to his environment was almost impossible. Even calling him Goldie drew hardly any reaction from him.  
The most influence he had seen the suit exert was about the TV program, but his continuous presence still was beyond notable.  
Now, last was…   
… Dave.   
Of course.  
If there was one person capable of manipulating the souls without even knowing how or that he was even doing it in the first place, it was his purple companion.   
Sometimes he had wondered if there was such a concept as deliberate chaos manipulation.   
_Another thing he might would have figured out if he would have not been brutally cut off from all his studies._  
But, no time being bitter.   
All he need was to figure out the variables at his disposal, then he would be able to manipulate them to his own benefit.   
_There was an exit.  
This was a trap, a way to contain him, a place consuming energy like any other.  
And there was a way to shut it down.  
He merely needed to figure it out.   
_  
For that, however, he needed to start getting some data.  
Try out different stimulus.  
That was what he was ready to do today.  
He had plenty of positive contact with Dave so far, nothing more seemed to be coming out of it.  
Despite everything, Dave STILL insisted this here was a great place- and Henry did not care for it.   
There was nothing he could bribe out of his former friend anymore, he clearly was not being cooperative- so he would show him another side, at the risk of ruining any claim to their friendship forever.  
 _… not that there were any traces left after Dave had betrayed him.  
Valuing his object of obsession over him, spitting in the face of everything Henry had ever done for him._  
Nightmare Balloon Boy slipped into the room- the night had started.   
“AND WHAT WILL YOU DO TODAY, TOOTHPICK?”   
“You will be surprised. I am sure of that…”   
“YOU THINK YOU CAN SURPRISE ME?”   
“It is not you I plan to surprise, so it hardly matters.”   
The animatronic looked at him suspicious.   
“YOU SEEM VERY CONVINCED ABOUT THIS, SHORTSNACK.”   
“I am.”   
That was where Henry stopped the conversation.   
_Saving his energy for the one he was meaning to hurt._   
He glanced at the Nightmare Balloon Boy, feeling barely anything for him. This creature would not attack- it was too weak to go against the rules, so it would be leering at him while he had the camera up, grinding his teeth.  
Rockstar Foxy he had actually never met before- and he’d try to avoid him tonight too.   
For some reason he always had the eerie feeling that this bird would never like him- no matter what he tried.  
 _He loved birds a lot.  
That was why birds tended to stay as far away from him as possible.  
_The plastic nightmare snarked something-  
But Henry wasn’t listening.  
He didn’t need him anymore. He didn’t have to talk to him anymore, even if he liked it, even if it was entertaining.   
Henry’s focus was on one thing only.  
 _Dave._  
Namely, how to rip him apart.   
Slowly his fingers tapped on the table, as he shortly took down the camera to flash the animatronic in his room, before pulling it back up, looking at the little springtrapped head moving along.  
… why would the one he shouldn’t have killed give Dave so much ability to manipulate the world around him? To a point that he was even allowed to join him in the office without attacking?  
Probably because he wanted to see them fight.   
And frankly- Henry wanted to fight him too.  
He was tired. And angry.  
He wanted to face the stupid child and-  
 _  
_

_Talk to him._

There was no spite for him specifically, in some way he could admire this child and the world he created. The animatronics, all filled with at least some level of personality, and somehow convincing two creatures from beyond to aid him.   
Yes, there was a lot of raw potential here.   
Perhaps it could use some guidance.  
 _… at least he could TRY._  
Either he would get out, he would get to teach a high potential being, or- worst case- everything would stay the same.   
_Dear god, this place was BORING him._  
Boring him like constant nails on chalkboard, boring him like itching teeth and a vile smell.  
Nothing was truly happening- _and it was driving him crazy._  
Even worse so that Dave claimed this place was great, while still acting as though he was Henry’s best friend.   
_There was something so intensely infuriating about it._   
It didn’t FEEL like Dave was free himself, but he thought if anyone could help him get out- it would be him. Yet he denied everything-  
The person who kept him here…  
All of a sudden a terrible idea grew inside of Henry’s mind.  
What-  
What if it was the Orange Guy?  
At least his long lost soul, biding its time until he could come and-  
That would explain why Dave was filled with so much life and personality.   
He WOULD know him.   
And the guy was extremely talented at convincing those around him to aid his wants.  
… maybe the child form he had taken on had to do with trauma?  
Dave himself seemed to have at least a second soul that got stuck back from before his mother died, it would not be too unlikely- not to mention that souls were inherently ageless.   
Perhaps it had been an act of deception, trying to throw Henry off the trail.  
Yet- that would leave the question… if the soul was here with him, then what was keeping the Orange Guy alive?  
  
He shuddered and tried not to think about it.  
 _There had to be something, SOMETHING powering him._  
Something…   
No matter what, it would be upsetting to hear his friend being insulted.   
  
And his glance on the camera confirmed that it was about to be done.   
A choice.   
He had to commit, with his very soul.  
 _And he would._  
  
The vents rattled, Henry refreshed the ventilation and put down the screen, flashing the Nightmare, before looking up at the vent.   
Almost instantly, Dave’s eyes shined a pale light out of the darkness.   
His grin glowed out from under the mask, just to gently shift into innocent confusion.  
“Henry. Aren’t ‘cha gonna let me in?”   
Coldly the Pink Man looked at his former friend.  
“No.”   
Dave’s grin widened for a moment, thinking it was a little game. “Aw, c’mon! What if I say please? Please lemme in? Pretty please!”   
_“I do not think I will.”_   
It was then that Davetrap caught on that something was going on.  
His expression shifted again, fully this time around.  
Worry, confusion and- annoyance.   
Of course, always the annoyance about defiance, Dave was one and the same as him on this topic.   
However, Henry at least always had the authority of logic-  
Dave had nothing, nothing but his unstable emotions and violence to justify his wants and get his way.  
“… why? What’s the problem, Henry?”   
  
_“I am done with you.”_   
  
The word came over Henry’s lips utterly naturally.  
 _He meant it._  
Even as Dave recoiled.   
The atmosphere in the establishment instantly changed, as well as Dave’s entire expression. It was glowing still, as bright and if not brighter… and plenty of people might misunderstand it as him still having fun, still amused, however Henry knew him better than he knew himself.   
He knew that was nothing but rage.  
“What did you say there, _friend_?”  
“I told you I am done with you. William, you have done nothing so far but to disappoint me.”   
There was an art to it-  
To give just enough of a pause to let the words HURT, but not enough to let a counterargument form- to let any resistance develop.  
“Frankly, I have given you many chances. Too many changes. Failure after failure was all you brought me however. I put all my effort into you _\- effort that I could have put into ANYONE else, into a damn PET and it would have served me better._ ”   
“You-“   
“No. No, William, you do not get to talk. I have kept quiet for too long. _Giving you mercy, care, hoping and praying for you to turn into something better- and now look at you.  
 **Who do you think you ARE?!  
** Using my generosity?   
Abusing my patience?!  
You were useless! You never aided me when it counted, you never LEARNED, you were SELFISH, like an ANIMAL, you were IGNORANT, you were an OBSTACLE-  
_All my WORK, all my LOVE for you, our BOND-   
It never existed outside of my head, did it?!”   
“What- Henry, I-“   
“ _WHAT_.   
_What do you THINK you can SAY here?!  
WHAT EXCUSE DO YOU HAVE, I AM DYING TO KNOW!  
 **DYING, QUITE LITERALLY, BECAUSE OF YOUR DISLOYALTY, YOU SACRIFICED ME.  
YOU SACRIFICED ME, AND EVERYTHING WE HAVE WORKED FOR.  
**YOU HAVE NO DIGNITY.   
YOU HAVE NOTHING YOU CARE ABOUT.  
YOU ARE A SHAM! A SHELL OF A PERSON! A HEARTLESS MONSTER!  
 **AND NOT EVEN ONE OF THOSE THAT ARE OF WORTH, OF VALUE, OF USE!  
Anything that you provided me with was something I could have reached by myself.  
All you have done was to hinder me.”**_  
Infuriated the guy in the vents hissed.   
“What the fuck do you think you’re sayin’?! I’VE BEEN-“   
Mockingly Henry grinned up at him.  
“What? What have you been doing? When have you ever been useful? Protected me?  
Face it, William, I pitied you and that was my mistake.  
I should have known that there was a reason everyone discarded you before.  
 _Once you will be gone, nobody will cry for you- nobody will miss you._  
The Orange Guy- to him you are merely entertainment.   
_You are a fucking TOY at best- and more so an UNLOVEABLE, REPLACABLE TOOL.”  
_ Finish it.   
One last time.  
Slowly he stood up, stepping towards the vent.   
“William.   
Look at me.  
I want you to look at me, and I want you to know…  
  
 _… everything would have been better if you never had existed.”_  
  
With that he closed the vents- both the front and the side one, just in time as the entire room was shaking, flickering, as something hysterical was making its way through it-  
Both sides of Dave being blocked out, as Henry fell back into his seat, raising his monitor, fixing the ventilation just in time.  
  
The night was not long after that.  
When he returned to the office, the suit was positioned in a way that it was looking at Henry as he entered.  
… somehow looking disappointed. Accusing.  
But Henry had no interest in that.  
Instead his attention was drawn to the board.  
  
All animatronics were glowing.  
The board was RED.   
  
Good.  
It was time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'LL EDIT TOMORROW  
> NEW YEAR NO RULES


	14. The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous said:
> 
> *glues a blindfold on henry* 50/20 go go go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m cutting this all a bit short. For the Ao3 thing I’ll be in a non-direct timeline, so Henry can still be tormented, but I wanna finish this for the blog- maybe not good, but right.
> 
> Also, if anyone is curious, I was jamming out to the The Binding of Isaac Afterbirth mod soundtrack, namely Morphine and Innocence Glitched and you totally should listen to them, because now I associate them WAY too much with Henry and Dave respectively

Henry scoffed.   
“… you are merely helping me. Now it will be easier to avoid the demon staying inside of the office.”   
  
That was a bit of a lie.   
It wasn’t that easy.   
But it didn’t matter.  
  
 _50/20 go, go, go!  
  
_ How long until certain movements became a second nature?  
How long until surprise machines became meaningless?  
How long until he won?  
  
 _50/20 go, go, go!  
_  
Tricks and exploits.  
The machines stumbling over each other to get to him-   
There was only a handful of them that instantly approached when failed…  
… and those could be contained.  
  
 _50/20 go, go, go!  
_  
He lost count.   
But he was making ground.  
He was getting there.  
  
 _50/20 go, go, go_  
  
It was too easy.  
If it was based on chance…  
… then it was too easy.   
  
  
_Why-  
Why was it this easy?  
Why was it- possible?_  
  
The thoughts weren’t hunting him while he was playing-  
But they crashed into him when it was over.  
 _When they were gone.  
When it was quiet.  
_  
All machines.  
All mechanics.  
They all were deactivated.  
The place felt- dead.  
After all the chaos, after all the pain, after him days, weeks- months?!  
… it was over.  
  
He felt cold.  
Not successful. Not excited. Not amazed.  
Just cold.   
  
Stumbling around, he managed to make his way out, his hands shaking from all the stress.  
He could breathe.  
He had space.   
… god, he hadn’t realized how much of a toll this project had taken on him.   
Now it was done though.   
Thankfully.   
Making his way back towards the office, he wondered what was waiting for him.   
Congratulations?   
Fury?  
Nothing at all?  
As he opened the door, he figured out- _it was the third option._  
What was waiting for him wasn’t the void. It wasn’t the nothingness- it was merely empty. There was something occupying the space already, making a space…  
It felt so oddly floaty and muted.  
Goosebumps crawled up Henry’s arms and neck as he heard a deep, almost droned up tone rhythmically sounding from the back.   
Music?   
Stepping inside, the Pink Guy moved forwards, feeling slightly better the longer he walked.   
This was something he could live with, this almost felt familiar.   
There was an EXIT to this place- back to the office- and it didn’t disappear, that was rather easy to recognize by simply checking over the shoulder. There was PERMANENCE to his surroundings.   
Finally-  
In the distance.  
 _  
Something_.  
 _Twitching_.  
  
As he approached, it became clearer-  
The suit.  
Shaking and shuddering.   
For a second he felt worried- as though there was something he could even DO.  
Still, something compelled him to stop and look at the creature.  
Poor, pitiful, confused creature.  
 _“… tell me… what are you…? Why are you here?”  
_ The suit didn’t respond.  
It seemed drained, pained.   
… this wasn’t _his_ fault however.  
Not this time.   
Slowly kneeling down beside him, he tried to catch a good look at the eyes-  
Then a voice from behind caused him to almost jump.  
“… he’s fine. He’ll be fine. I can’t say the same about you though.”   
The kid.  
Standing up slowly Henry didn’t turn yet.  
… this time, the voice sounded more… _familiar_.  
“There you are.” Henry mumbled. “… you took your time to face me _. Were you scared_?”   
It however just- sounded tired.  
“No.”   
“Then why were you hiding?”   
There was a moment of silence, long and cold.   
Finally, a sigh.  
“No, Henry. I wasn’t hiding. I was trying to make it more fun for you with a little mystery.”   
And that was the point where it felt like a few things that were titled before slid into place.  
It took a bit of gathering…  
… then Henry turned around.  
Dave was standing there, looking up at him.  
So small.  
So fragile.  
So-  
 _Disappointed_.  
  
For a moment both of them looked at each other, Dave swiftly changing under his eyes, turning into his suited up form.   
The golden bunny shined slightly in the darkness, as he looked down at him in turn once more.  
 _Flickering._  
 _Incapable of maintaining a single form._   
It took another moment-  
Then Henry stepped back.  
“… so. This was _your_ work. You were keeping me here, tormenting me. _I was right with everything I said_.”   
“No. You don’t even know how wrong you were.”   
Turning away from him, the- soul- moved away from him and the suit.  
But he continued.   
“Henry. I’ve grown tired of you. _I think you don’t know how much I did for you_.”   
_“What did you ever do for me.”_   
“I’ve protected you when you were alive. I’ve made this place when you were dead _. I didn’t have to be here_. I’ve made a mystery. I created something that for all intends and purposes you should like- while keeping up my deal with Fredbear. I wanted you to be happy, _busy_. To find some sort of balance for you.”   
There was such a confidence to the claim, that it caused Henry to pause.  
Still, he was too frustrated.   
_“… perhaps you should have listened to me when I said I am not happy.”_  
“Maybe. Yes, maybe. But then, what would have made you happy? You wanted to leave- and to where? To do what? What were you trying to find? There’s nothing out for there you anymore.”   
Henry had no response, for once in his life.  
Which Dave took as his chance to continue on, flickering between all his form at a rapid pace.   
The voice adjusting with each form-  
It almost sounded like multiple people talking at once.  
“We’ve been spending a lot of time together recently. And I think I learned something. _Despite your insistence that I never learn._ ” One thing all of his forms had in common- their glares were all cold. “I think I get you now. I think I now know, Henry- _you’re a lost cause._ ”   
“Are you-“   
“No, hush, please, _for the last time in our lives, wait for a moment to listen to me_.” For a moment the soul closed its eyes, then opened them again. “You were my best friend. The childhood friend I imagined to have when I was young. With you, I felt so utterly myself. But… _you lied_. You told it to my face, after all this time.”   
Raising to his full height, Dave stared him down.  
“Henry. I want you to know, with all of your words, with all of your claims… you were wrong. Henry, I want you to know:  
 ** _YOU disappointed ME_**.”   
_“You little-“_  
 _“You’re done. Henry, stop talking. There’s nothing to talk about anymore. I’m done. The exit is over there.”  
_ There was nothing but… calmness left in Dave’s voice.  
“You will leave. And you will not come back. This isn’t a place for you anymore.”   
Completely dumbstruck Henry stared at the creature.   
“I- _what_?”   
“You heard me. I put so much effort into this, hoping you’d like it.” He made a vague movement around himself. “But you didn’t _. And I guess you can be angry with me for not realizing that you didn’t actually want immortality, or that you didn’t actually want to be near your machines…_ I thought I knew you and I thought I’d make a nice place for both of us to play in- within reason- and that maybe you’d be happy.  
But you’re not.  
And y’know what, Henry?  
  
 _I don’t think you’ll ever be._  
  
 _But that’s not my problem anymore_.”  
With that Dave turned to leave, disappearing into nothingness, as though he was simply fading away.   
For another moment Henry stood there, disbelieving-  
Then the suit next to him started to calm down and he realized, he had to leave fast, otherwise he would lose his chance to be free.   
Moving towards the exit, shimmering red, he wanted to hesitate-  
  
  
 _And then there was red water.  
Red, hot, burning water everywhere._   
  
  
  
When he managed to crawl out of the lake, he looked around.  
 _Back at the lake._  
A fishing rod was on the pier… and nothing else.  
Making a noise, as loud as his throat could produce-  
  
Nothing.  
  
Not even birds flying up.  
  
Slowly Henry caught his breath, realizing that there was no place to go.  
The forest was too close together, at least right now.  
Maybe- maybe it would change, soon.   
Maybe he would leave.  
His fingers found the red rod besides him, grabbing it tightly, getting some comfort from the wood that felt very real, unlike the air around him.   
  
Right now there was nothing that he could do.  
So he would fish.   
And wait.  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Request still and always open! Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
